The tyranny of reading

Music Video of 2009

2010-12-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

I'm such a copycat.

Above all else I love to read good romances. This music-vid. The song is nothing special. But the video is utterly something else. 1 guy...involves 4 beautiful females...one of them the singer. Mesmerizing. His eyes at the end! What is that all about?

And yes. That is the only way to have a row with your partner. (Pouring too much sugar into your coffee. tee hee)

The blurring of the images and the skipping of the track are all part of the original video.

Into The Crossfire by Lisa Marie Rice

2010-09-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

Warning! Unlike many other reviewers I am going to give this book a totally glowing review! That is because (unfortunatley) I seem to be the only reader in the whole universe who appreciates its brilliance. So there.

A relatively short book with big print. All the action and the whole romance takes place over about 3 amazing days. Like. 3 days that changed Sam and Nicole's lives forever. Basically beautiful classy Nicole becomes the target for some chillingly ruthless tangos and uber-protector Sam rescues her. That's the plot.

When I first got the book I was so happy to be reading a Lisa Marie novel again (despite the fact that I hated the last one 'Desperate Drake') that I guess I was just too excited to read the story properly. And basically missed all the detail and subtleties that make, particularly, the romance work.

So 2 weeks after the first read, just as I was typing out another indifferent review I picked it up again...

Despite the story being quite short many pages are used to reinforce the notion that the hero, Sam, a big overwhelming type of guy would never never, under any circumstances harm or coerce a female in any kind of way. So all the info about Sam running some kind of Underground Network for survivors of spousal abuse has a purpose to convince the reader that the heroine, Nicole, never comes under any kind of pressure to sleep with Sam, apart from the call of her raging hormones.

In a way it didn't really matter for me because it was made clear throughout the novel that Sam was getting as much from being with Nicole as she was from being with him. If in the future they go their separate ways that's ok because they both made each other very happy for the time they were together. (I hope they don't break up though.) The reason I say this is because Sam and Nicole have completely different backstories.

Remember Jack from Dangerous Boiler? Well, Sam has some of his characteristics. In that he basically fell for Nicole from the first time he saw her. And engineered his entry and exit from his office to coincide with Nicole going into her office across the hall for the whole month after she rented it. And. He calls her 10/20 times after their one night stand together.(ie discretely obsessive.)

However Nicole is also totally effectively characterised. A reader is left in no doubt that she is capable of off-loading any guy she doesn't like. And having told Sam she has no time for romance in her life she then agrees to a one-night stand for no other reason than strong mutual attraction. Her hesitation at Sam's office door the following day is probably an indication that she would have come round to being with Sam in the future. Even without the cataclysmic events that happened next. Then of course there's the fact that although she was grateful to 'low-life' looking Sam she wouldn't have dreamt of going on a date with him if he hadn't told her he owned the successful security company across the hall from her office...AND had the Mayor of San Diego give him a character reference. (And what a standout scene that was!)

Absolutely without Sam there would be no more Nicole. She is riding a total cockamamie speeding juggernaut to oblivion. Not that she seems aware of it. First. She's about to be shot dead by tangos. Second. She's in danger of being brutalised by real low-lifes living in the rooming house across the street from her. Third. Her father's illness would probably have bankrupted her in the end. Sam rescues her from all three. But just so the average reader doesn't think that beautiful classy privileged Nicole gets off too easy, she gets physically thrown across a room by one of the bad guys. Which I thought was a horrible thing to happen to a romance heroine.

Again. All the bad guys, although somewhat cartoonish in a first read turn out to be very capable and horribly efficient people. Although I knew from the very beginning that everything would be all right I really felt Nicole's terror in the deserted warehouse. Mr Paul Preston had better meet a nasty painful death in the final Protectors novel.

Being me. I just totally loved the richness of the incidental details in the book. The references to Geneva, Lebanon, philosophy professors, Louis XV Philippe Starck consoles (huh?)...and Thuraya satellite cell phones. Thank you for sharing.

There's even an insignificant thread running from the beginning to the end of the book. I missed it on the first read. When Sam first saw Nicole he noticed her bare ring finger and thought that if she was his girl he'd buy her a huge stone to show other guys she was spoken for. In the final chapter, yup, he's the guy that's bought her the egg-sized diamond. This so-called short book even has space for a happy little epilogue.

Presumably Mike and Harry will be getting their own Protectors novels. I struggled on the first read with Sam calling them his 'brothers' when they clearly were not and the three guys didn't even serve together when they enlisted. I think the brotherhood idea is supposed to explain why Mike and Harry are willing to drop everything to help Sam rescue Nicole before she gets shot. Their presence allowed Sam to loose his cool a little without compromising the race to find Nicole. Most writers wouldn't bother with details like that.

There's also just the right amount of technology in the story and just the right amount of weapon use. There's 3 big love scenes and they are par for the course for the author. One of Sam's more unusual idiosyncracies is that he has quite good visualisation skills...along the lines of...what if this or that terrible thing happened to Nicole...Make of that what you will.

Lastly. Nicole can sometimes read as being too helpless. But what else could she do with her father's life at stake? I'm not a big fan of romance heroines being slaves to their parents but in this case the construct worked. Mainly because it was made clear that Nicole had already had a good life of her own and that caring for her father was a time-limited activity seeing how he was terminally ill. And she could think under pressure. It was she who discovered the file with the info about the tango target. Bless.

Of course, now, I keep reading my favorite pages over and over again.

It'll be 2011 before the next Protectors novel comes out. Shame! I absolutely loved this one. Hope you do too.

More DNFs

2010-08-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

Two ridiculous books. Both of which received good reviews on other sites. So readers might still enjoy them.

First. Untamed Rogue, Scandalous Mistress by Bronwyn Scott. Which means girl-friend and boy-friend are sleeping together almost from the beginning. I didn't really like it almost from the start. Perhaps because the hero, Crispin, is at a cross-roads in his life and doesn't know what to do with himself. Except he is absolutely sure he doesn't want to settle down with a wife and kids. But we all know he is going to be wedded by the end of this short novel. And the heroine, Aurora, declares ' I don't need a man.' Again. The whole novel is completely about her and a man, Crispin. What's more. Her attitude stems from the fact that she had been 'let down' by a guy (guys) in the past. Rather than from any sense of self-empowerment. She makes a living giving riding lessons to young women. And as far as I could tell was completely dependent on guys giving permission for their daughters and wives to have those lessons. Her name is Aurora but she is known as Rory to most people. So she's sort of pretending to be a guy. I lost interest in all her hypocritical posturing. The previous novel in this series had a wonderful background story of conniving murderous Russian tsarists. Nothing like that here.

Second. The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen. A servant girl has to masquerade as a member of the aristocracy in order to discover if the hero, Luc, is a spy for France during the Napoleonic Wars. Utterly ridiculous. The heroine, Sarah, lives in the hero's house and spends her time searching through the rooms for evidence of his treason. Very early there's a scene where she pukes into a vase. Does she go to clean herself up? No. She drinks a cup of tea, offered by the hero who at the same time notices her full soft lips. Only in a novel could that happen. Any person with an ounce of sense would have been suspicious of a woman who had lived in Italy but couldn't speak Italian, couldn't dance, couldn't remember what was going on with her parents, Not the hero, Luc, though. Which made him more of a twit than her. I didn't really understand who Sarah's employer was. Northrup or the Mertons. Nor did she ever ask how the Widow had come to be shot. But it was the relentless snooping around in someone else's house and lying that eventually antagonised me. Why would Luc want to wed someone who behaved like that? Plus. Add in the plebian names of Luc's friends and the whole story seemed to be like reproduction of a Hogarth cartoon...full of fugly people doing fugly things. Not really helped by all the work that went into describing the heroine as borderline ugly at the start of the story. I just lost the motivation to read further than about page 122.

However. This story provides an interesting insight into the mind of a servant who believes she has no choice but to obey her employer in his wishes. Spying...betrayal...theft. She seemed to have no sense of right and wrong and was only worried about being made destitute. That was the power that the Church gave to ordinary men and women of those days. And that is partly why it became so powerful. It gave them morals and the power to say no to unreasonable requests. That's what I thought anyway.

Secrets of a Scandalous Bride by Sophie Nash

2010-07-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

I absolutely did not like this story. Of the heroine, Elizabeth, making preparations to marry a man she hated all the whilst doing the deed with 'her one true love.' It didn't help that the bad guy, Pymm, was a national hero second only to Wellington at Waterloo. And the lover, Rowland Manning, seemed to have been a baddie in a previous novel written by the author.

Elizabeth was being blackmailed by Pymm because she received letters from her uncle, Napoleon's commander at Waterloo. Are you telling me that no-one else knew she was related to this soldier? And you know what? I myself might feel suspicious of Elizabeth in such circumstances. Elizabeth also believed that Pymm had used the cover of battle to murder her father. But there was very little development of that plot throughout the book. I have no idea why Pymm was so obsessed with Elizabeth. Nor was it explained why Elizabeth believed it was her fault that her father and Pierce Winters had been killed. Nor could I understand what on earth Sarah was doing in the plot, apart from maybe being prepared to be the heroine of the next book by the author. Why would anyone be interested in the plodding romance between granny Ata and Brownie. None of these side plots were ever developed in any way. Mysteries were dangled in front of the reader...and just left...to be continued elsewhere. Was I supposed to care?

Sarah was going to pimp herself out to Pymm so that Rowland would get the money owed to him by the Cavalry. Why would she do that? She's met him about a week ago. It's not as though he saved her life or anything like that. Basically she just felt sorry for him for various reasons. There were too many references to Rowland's previous nasty deeds to his brother and the brother's fiance for a reader to feel that he deserved such a sacrifice. And just a thought. Maybe Pymm himself had also had a difficult upbringing. The reader was given no choice to decide who was the better person between him and Rowland.

It was good that Elizabeth understood all Rowland's strange habits and that he fell in love with her. But what they should have done is just eloped and then sailed to the colonies in the New World to start a life away from from the stultifying expectations of titled friends and relatives.

In the end it became increasingly painful to read of Elizabeth's deceptions to both Pymm and Rowland. For the sake of a lot of money? And as I said before, the reader basically had to take Elizabeth's word about the murder of her father. What was the evidence for that belief?

The characters in the book kept each other in the dark about their various motivations, the reader was kept in the dark about the many on-going threads in the book and in the end I was just exasperated with the whole story.

The big mistake in the plot is to make the friend of a national hero into a baddie. While the main couple seemed to be of no better character than him...a novel with no cultural heart.

Masked by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon

2010-07-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

I skim-read this story after about chapter 3. Which is why I almost missed the part where the heroine, Charlotte, pistol-whips her guy, the hero Max. Because she thought her good friend, the conniving nun, had died. The next day he forgives her.

Yes it is so much that type of relationship between Max and Charlotte. They hump and declare their love for each other. A few pages later they lie and hide the truth from one another. Max, in particular, seems to have emerged from an abusive relationship with Jimmy, his common-law adoptive father, only to start another with Charlotte, who is basically wacko. Mind you, Max's servility to Jimmy is also pretty cringeing to read. An image of Norman Bates and his mom kept creeping into my mind.

Oh, and Charlotte is also a serving police detective. Unable to solve any crime until someone anonymous hands her a brown envelope full of incriminating evidence against some poor schmuck. I struggled to get over the construct of an officer of the law sleeping with a major hoodlum, her colleagues know and she is not suspended from work and is even allowed to investigate alleged crimes committed by her lover, Max.

The novel is set in New Orleans. Which almost explains the totally bonkers plot. A mash-up of grand-guignol and southern gothic. Featuring off page grisly murders, gang-rape and arson. Plus a few ick factors. Fairly entertaining if you like that sort of thing. But for me...less is more.

What went wrong...

Charlotte is called different names by the different people in her life. The author calls her Charlotte or CeCe completely interchangeably. Like she couldn't make up her mind about her character. She also got called Lottie and Ceece.

For a moment. I actually thought tough brainy police detective Charlotte was going to allow herself to be raped despite the fact she had a weapon and her attackers did not. Thank goodness Max saved her. Like she was some kind of simpering miss.

For the first half of the novel the reader can get the impression that Charlotte became a cop to pay back Legere for her brutalisation. I thought psych tests prevented that sort of person from being a cop. (Thankfully.) Anyway that thread was dumped when Jimmy got shot by his relative. (A complete anti-climax.) And it made the heroine look demented.

Why would a working police detective even want to dress 'almost like a hooker.'

For most of the novel Max is a tearful weenie. He's a grown man who has chosen servility. Yuk. And that part about how Max's mom started hooking to buy him shoes is utter bilge.

I hate to defend slime but spousal abuse is not a capital offense. And could be said to be a whole lot less serious than racketeering. Which is what Jimmy and Max were involved in.

Some scenes were just ludicrous...Max introducing Charlotte to all the gangsters. Charlotte stopping a fellow detective from questioning Max, in the police station, when they all knew she was sleeping with him. The woman had no shame.

Towards the end of the novel, Charlotte suddenly had a realisation of the conflict of interest between her job and her relationship with Max. Lasted about a microsecond.

The love scenes weren't very hot...or descriptive. They were more about athleticism than emotion. And Max seems to have developed a pash for Charlotte when he rescued her from the gang-rape. Ick!

I absolutely didn't get who killed Ben Spratt or why. Or why Mary-Kate felt she should also die. I realise that that was all sequel bait. But that wasn't really made clear either. Just so annoying.

Why did so many characters have french names? Was some insult intended upon cajuns?

...but as a big positive. A whole lot happens in quite a short book. And for readers who like unlikeable (cod) serial victim heroes and heroines it was actually an interesting story. A variation on the theme of 'its so bad its probably a best-seller.'

Eye of the Beholder by Jackie Weger

2010-07-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've been re-reading some of the older romances on my faves list.

Arctic Enemy by Linda Harell has lost its lustre. The journalist heroine now seems media-standard selfish and self-serving. Although the setting itself and the story is very exciting.

However Eye of the Beholder is still just absolutely wonderful. It's basically the story of how stick thin, itinerant Phoebe gets her man, Gage Morgan. This novel is just so much full of love and family. If only real-life were this happy and straightforward. Phoebe and her folks have absolutely nothing. They have all lost their jobs at the cotton mill. So what does Phoebe do. No, she does not let her mom pimp her into an arranged marriage. Phoebe packs her younger brother and sister into a pickup and goes to look for work. Bless her. And bumps into miserable Gage Morgan, the hero. Although basically, the story is 80% per cent about Phoebe.

Jackie Weger wrote an even better romance. On a Wing and a Prayer. Also on my list. The hero of that story actually lived in a trailer. And he was still wonderful. One of the few romances where both the hero and the heroine had minimal material possessions. But the characters in both stories were pretty similar. Crochety hero. Optimistic heroine with a heart full of love for children. And of course the sassy granny.

I don't know why the media prefers to portray the american under-class as being scarey (Hills Have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw, Deliverance) or immoral (Bens Wildflower).

Most of Jackie's other romances were bog-standard middle-class stuff. As was she herself. But those two mentioned above are a couple of 22-carat gems. And the best way to view both Eye and Wing is as sublime Works of Art. Cos there's no way they were an easy write.

The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne

2010-07-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

An absolutely astoundingly well-written romance novel. With some quite emotional bits. Not much bump and grind though. But that didn't matter so much. What there is is a lot of stress and tension. Because the story is set in the times of the French Revolution. And the reader often feels like bad karma is on the verge of steam-rolling over all the protagonists. So much so that as always in such cases I needed some reasurance that there would be a HEA for the main couple. So I skipped to the final chapter, particularly once William was imprisoned. You know what. I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on in the final chapter when I first read it out of sequence. It doesn't really help that the main couple modify their names. So William morphs to Guillaume and Marguerite becomes Maggie. But in the final chapter she assumes the name Martine, and Suzette.

Be aware that this is a resolutely (cod) literary novel. Complete with full descriptions of the characters of a couple of donkeys. And frequent views into the head of the female lead. Which often come across as inane witterings. And the love scenes feature corny purple prose. Sometimes the plot momentum just comes to a grinding halt whilst the heroine gives herself up to her imaginery world. The opening chapter where she has a conversation with a rabbit is completely characteristic of who she is. Actually I did buy into the characters and considered Marguerite as the person who moves the plot along.

The villain, Victor is totally horrible. Really. He should have had his head chopped off. Presumably he didn't because the main couple had to be so wonderfully wonderful.In fact. Absolutely no-one dies. Baddie or goodie. And sometimes a reader could feel the hard work that went into making it so. So why put in a thirteen year old former hooker?

A couple of things made me squee. Too many of the secondary characters are minors who have had difficult lives. In particular there seems to be a thirteen year old former hooker (probably coerced). Although she is portrayed as thoroughly heroic I just thought her back-story was just too much of an ick-factor for me to appreciate her presence in the story. And I didn't like that she gave up her four-year old sister into the hands of strangers, even though they were the completely decent main couple who swore to love the child as their own. Just all too sad.

I didn't really understand Madame who was supposed to be French secret police. And quite menacing toward Justine with her stupid gifts of food and clothes. Who did she report to? Why did her boss not get at all involved in the plot. I also had no idea why William's father had treated him so badly when he was a chid. Even at the end of the novel I had no idea why finding Marguerite's father (and his list) would stop the assassinations. But that part of the plot certainly seemed very clever.

So. What is so good about the novel. Because it is very very good. The sense of impending doom. The fact that the hero places himself in danger to safe-guard the heroine. Some scenes are totally derivative of the Scarlet Pimpernel. As is the writing style. But that is a positive comment. Both the main couple will always plot and plan to lead innocent civilians away from an unjust certain death ie the guillotine...even at risk to their own lives. Bless them both. And yes. I believed Marguerite was capable of setting up and maintaining an organisation called La Fleche (The arrow)...after all..she had lots of money. Just observe how loyal people were to her. Going back to the first chapter. The fact that Marguerite was very very hungry and still let the trapped rabbit go free told me everything I wanted to know about her character...and that I would love it. But that's just me.

And of course I absolutely loved the relationship between Marguerite and William. Which was never abusive or domineering or disrespectful. But always mutually supportive. I especially loved it when William told Marguerite that he owed her every breath he breathed. (After she saved him from the guillotine.) Although his own idea of a forger adding powerful names onto Robspierre's list was probably as instrumental in saving his life as Marguerite's efforts.

btw I have read the Spymasters Lady where William made his first appearance. And long since forgotten it.

Absolutely fantastic. But probably not suitable for those with a short attention span.

Branded As Trouble by Lorelei James

2010-06-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

First. Who is Buck McKay? In AJ's novel, Cowgirl Up, Kade's twin is named Kane. But in this story Kade's twin is named Buck. Or am I wrong?

This is one of the longer Rough Rider novels. And it is all all all Colt and India. Bickering, making up and humping, on and on for twenty-six chapters. The ending is good though.

Colt is a recovering alcholic and India is his sponsor in the program. So what the reader gets is a blow by blow account about how they change that relationship to a lasting romantic partnership. For the first 2 weeks they agree to just date platonically. That's very nice. But does a reader buy an erotic to read about the main couple watching movies together. tbh Not enough temptation to fall off the wagon was placed before either Colt or India to make the story gripping.

What exactly was his problem? He's probably the richest of the McKay brothers and completely independent of the family ranch if he wants to be. Yet for some reason he was resentful of the fact his birth family didn't show him enough love and appreciation...or so he thought. How come in the end his brothers and his Dad came around to say they had misjudged him but poor ol' Cam had to grovel in the grass in his novel?

I also struggled with India's back story. All her memories of her younger years were tied up in drugs and drug-guys and exchanging sex for drugs or to pay the rent. But compared to the difficulties Domini faced or even AJ it seemed India just made some bad life-style choices. I didn't really understand why she seemed ashamed of her tatts and piercings at various community events. At times her anxieties about her relationship with Colt made her read like doormat material. In fact choice of guys seemed more her problem than drink or drugs. The tattoing business was sometimes poor and it might have been more interesting to see what India would do if she couldn't pay the rent on her shop nowadays.

22-year old Macie wouldn't have dreamt of humping Carter without a condom. Sometimes she had to peel him off her body and order him to put one on. But the much more experienced India gets herself knocked up by Colt. She was such a chaotic personality. No wonder she couldn't handle her 3 adorable nieces.

For me this novel was just too middle class to be as enjoyable as some of the other Rough Rider stories.

btw I didn't read Colt offering to help Cam get that technologically advanced prosthetic. With all his gas money. So what's he got to bellyache about?

A Kiss to Kill by Nina Bruhns

2010-06-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Thoroughly awful. Total rubbish.

The back blurb says the story is about Gina and Gregg. However equal, if not more space is given to Rebel and Alex. And there's yet another couple Sarah and Wade.

This guy Wade deserves a special mention. All the female leads have either slept with him or want to sleep with him. Yes they all work together. And I thought. Eww. So Gina and Gregg, and Rebel and Alex is not about romance. It's about just moving onto the next guy. What's more all the characters work for agencies dedicated to keeping the US safe from tangos. But how can they be doing that effectively when they seem to be on some kind of carnal merry-go-round.

So now we come to the main flaw. The character of Gina. She was kidnapped, tortured and rescued. She blames her more current lover Gregg because he handed her over to the bad guys, in ignorance. So now she hates him and is dedicating her life to drawing him out of hiding so she can kill him. But what does she do when she meets him. She doesn't make any effort to harm him. She listens to him deny any part in her abuse...and then she totally believes him...because he was her lover and wouldn't betray her. Ok. Not particuarly smart but understandable. Never mind that she has trained for months to knife him dead. Gregg says he's innocent so it must be true. No other evidence required.

Of course the agency Gregg used to work for isn't quite so gullible, so he's still in hiding. Gregg stashes Gina in a hotel and advises her not to leave because the bad guys are probably looking to harm her still. So what does she do? She leaves the hotel room to get some ice for her freakin' house champagne. From that moment on I hated the stupid woman. Who by the way is supposed to have a doctorate. But there's more to come...and worse.

There's a traitor in the agencies that all the characters work for. A traitor who's feeding intel to the tango cell. At some point suspicion falls on Wade. And in an official briefing Gregg, Alex, Rebel, Alex's boss and Gina all discuss the evidence against Wade. So what happens. Wade calls on Gina. Who instead of behaving normally. This stupid woman blabs to Wade all about how the others suspect him of treason. Why? Why? Because he was her lover and can't possibly be guilty. Although there is a lot of circumstantial evidence against him. Praise be that the nation's security doesn't depend on half-wits like her. The thing is. As far as I could tell. Gina wasn't part of any black-ops team during the course of this book. So why was she there during the briefing? Because she used to be attached to the team before she was kidnapped, because Gregg was her lover, because Rebel is her good friend. See. There was no reason for Gina to be present at all.

In the end the author wants the reader to believe that Wade isn't a traitor. Except that he's being blackmailed to give out classified information. But he's giving it to another american so that makes it right. Wade is actually a case study of a traitor. It could be argued that the reason the prez was in any danger at all was because of Wade passing on info...about Gina...about STORM. Of course Gina forgives him. (Save me from this eejut.) Another thing about Gina is that she is so needy in the novel. Always on the verge of tears despite talking tough. I could completely understand why given what she suffered. But then she should have been in therapy. Not back with her old team getting stressed out on a daily basis.

Rebel and Alex have more pages in the first half of the story. Unfortunatley Alex is an agent with a tendency to get PTSD flashbacks in tight situations. I know it's supposed to make him loveable...but as a reader I thought he was one liability too many for an ongoing operation. There is a briefing that takes place between Rebel, Alex and their boss, Quinn. And without asking, the two guys expect Rebel, a perfectly competent agent, to make them coffee and sandwiches. Rebel actually fetches a ziploc bag for Quinn to put his sandwiches in. Yup. That's what happens when guys in the workplace start serially sharing the women around. Gross.

I hardly read any of the pages involving Sarah and Wade. He came across as just too slimey.

I did read the book to the end. If only in the hope of seeing Wade charged and jailed. Or even fired. No such luck. The final wtf moment involved the identity of the traitor. Where did this guy Tommy come from?? Was he mentioned at the start of the story? No way am I reading the book again.But in a way it doesn't matter. Because for the reader, Wade is the person who gave up classified info. He is the bad guy. It is a serious mistake to expect the reader not to hate his guts and not get angry that he faces absolutely no consequences for his actions.

On a minor note. Poor little me struggled for a while with all the obscure abbreviations in the novel. I can handle CIA, FBI and NSA. I'm ok on POTUS, CONUS, CSI. Trouble was. This novel had all those plus PMC, STORM, AFIS, NCVIC, SAC, ZU-NE, TOD, LT, BCD,...and still more. Mainly in the first half of the book. It just seemed like technical overload.

The love scenes were few and far between and seemed out of place generally. In fact the story worked better as a spy adventure than rom-sus. The relationships on view were just so icky.

btw. The first clue to the general stupidity of this novel comes early on. The tango cell are based on a yacht moored in Chesapeake Bay. The name of the yacht? Allah's Paradise. As if. Why not just put up a sign that reads 'Raid Me.' Just such a freaking stupid (and embarrassing) story. Don't even think of reading it if you are even the slightest bit patriotic.

Rode Hard and Put Up Wet by Lorelei James

2010-06-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Basically quite a sweet erotic romance featuring an older couple, Cash and Gemma, and a younger couple, Macie and Carter. All four live on Gemma's ranch; Cash and Gemma in the big house, Carter in a trailer and Macie in a camper. The boundaries between the two couples are strictly observed.

The best relationship in the novel is between Cash and his daughter Macie. These two are making an effort to get to know each other because Cash just wasn't around for any of Macie's growing up years. Actually Macie is a wonderful person. Beautiful, hard-working, completely unresentful about Cash's absence during her childhood, but somewhat conflicted about what she wants from life. She's probably too good for moody, self-centred, callous, exploitative Carter. Jack Donohue (the guy who will be Keely's husband) makes an appearance because he is basically Carter's best friend. He tells Macie that Carter is capably of causing Macie unintentional emotional pain...and that is exactly what he does when he shows Macie his portraits of her naked body. Carter offers Macie a threesome (with Jack) because she told him she had a fantasy about it (a gay fantasy). But she refuses because she says it was just a fantasy and she didn't want to make it real. A couple of times Carter really shows that he doesn't understand Macie at all. She's wasted on him. Macie had an irrational fear of thunderstorms which was somewhat trying at times. She and Carter have a huge amount of energy and go at it all over everywhere, in the open, in the car...repeatedly.

Gemma is quite happy when Cash provides her with another guy for a threesome. I loved it when Gemma actually asked Cash about his relationship with Macie's mom. And she did it to show that she cared about the relationship Cash was trying to build with Macie. Gemma could be an assertive lover with Cash.

I want to mention that both Cash and Macie have a Native-American heritage. In addition Cash is an ageing rodeo-rider who never quite made it to the big time. With all that implies. Cash, in particular, seems not to have had much luck in life before Gemma came along. Both Cash and Macie are portrayed very sympathetically. And if any reader takes offense I'd love to know the reason. For me it was exactly that background that made the story so poignant at times.

By the time Keely's story takes place both 48-year old Gemma and 22-year old Macie have a couple of kids with their guys.

Like I said. Very nice.

Cowgirl Up and Ride by Lorelei James

2010-06-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

The story of 22-year old AJ and the oldest McKay son, 35-year old Cord.

AJ must be the only McKay wife who's had only one lover, Cord. And don't tell me former crack ho India, and Keely, who's had half the county don't gossip about that fact. Yes. It so much is that kind of town.

Cord and AJ's story is pretty straightforward. She propositions him. He accepts. They have 7 weeks to discover they love each other too. Before the return of Cord's little boy Ky who's staying with his mom. Somewhere. Cord's special nookie treat is that AJ is a massage therapy student, and he gets given the kind of 'therapy with extras' that most guys can only fantasize about. Hot hot hot.

Almost immediately alongside the main romance runs a side-story that charts another McKay brother, Colt's, descent into a sordid drink and carnal hell. With a gay orgy scene thrown in the mix. For Dag, the cousin. Who winds up dead. Imagine! And it is a very bleak picture of 3 macho guys sharing a house and just being so nihilistic. It turns out Cord had some Daddy issues that needed airing...

But the person I felt the most sympathy for was AJ. She turns out to be one of those heroines whose family use her like a servant. From the time she was about 13 to 22 years old, she basically did all the work on the family ranch. When her mom hurts her leg AJ postpones college to become a full-time carer. When her sister's marriage breaks up AJ is expected to share baby-sitting duties. And suddenly her mom is going to sell the ranch.

The reader really gets a feel for the saddness and insecurity AJ feels about losing her home. If anyone deserved a carefree fling with a guy her own age it was AJ. But what happens? She fixates on divorced 35 year old rancher and lone parent, Cord. Yes. In the end he gives her the wedding ring she thinks she wants. And how he wooed her was really sweet and all that. But. It might have been better for AJ if she got away from Sundance for a few years. Having kids straight aways and being stuck forever in a teeny-tiny 2-horse town is not easy for a lively young girl. In fact. AJ had more reason to become addicted to drink and drugs than Colt. But of course that doesn't happen.

Notwithstanding the fact that AJ and Cord get happily married. And Colt gets himself checked into rehab by the end of the novel. This is a much bleaker story than that of Cam and Domini. Still spellbinding though.

Shoulda Been a Cowboy by Lorelei James

2010-06-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

I obsessed about this story from the moment I started reading it until about a week afterwards.

The heroine is Domini. A Ukranian immigrant who works as a short order cook in the local diner. (Think Carmen Kass.) Domini comes with some baggage. She had her uterus removed when she was a teenager. And that was after being attacked by a dog which resulted in some scarring when she was about 5 years old. And I thought, 'Why? Why does she have to have scars as well?' And the answer is of course to make her a believable love interest for maimed veteran Cam. It also gives her a reason for saying she's quite shy. Well maybe she is but when once she gets going with Cam, she ain't timid that's for sure.

The first 100 pages or so of the e-novel is about Cam and Domini overcoming some relationship difficulties whilst doing lots of smokin' hotness. And no. I did not skim read the hotness. (Unlike some weenies...who actually dare confess in public they read an erotic for the plot!!) There's even an experimental threesome that doesn't quite work out. But each of the Rough Rider stories features edgy nookie of some sort.

And then about half way through the novel the fostering side-plot is introduced. And Cam and Domini get married to give little Anton a home. The reader already knows they're in love but they just haven't spoken their feelings out loud to each other. This is where Domini shows the iron in her character because there is no doubt that she would have run with Anton if social services tried to place him with another couple.

Anyway. For a little while it did look as though the main couple would split up because Cam wasn't really committed and struggled to cope with a not very likeable Anton making kiddy messes and noises around his previously quiet and tidy home. Then comes this extraordinary scene where 7 year old Anton tries to attack Cam because he thinks he sees Cam hurting Domini when all he's doing is having a full body back cuddle with her. I thought. This is it. No way back for Cam and Anton. But the scene was handled so beautifully. None of the adults got angry or argued or had hysterics. Domini totally let Cam handle the situation so sensibly. It showed that neither Cam nor Dom had any trust issues between themselves. After that scene the reader knew everything was going to be ok for this little family. In fact by the end of Keely's story, All Jacked Up, Cam and Domini have 5 more young children all adopted from Romanian orphanages including lovely Liesl who has a physical impairment just like Cam's and for the same reason. Imagine!

However. I didn't really appreciate the fact that Cam had to eat all that humble pie at the family picnic. I mean. He's lost a limb, got other scarring. Wouldn't that make anyone a little withdrawn from his family and friends. He doesn't have PTSD. Instead of him apologising for being nervous and insecure about their reaction to his limb-loss they should be thanking the Good Lord that Cam came back ready to love. After all he'd been subtley eyeing Domini for over 2 years at the diner. The scene where Cam made it up with his family just went on too long. And was just too sentimental.

But again. That's the Rough Rider series. Dark, light and gooey. Absolutely fantastic.

I wikied Sundance, Wyoming. It really exists. With a population of around 800. You think if I go there for a vacation I might get to meet Cam and Dom and the kids? ;)

Skin Tight by Ava Gray

2010-05-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

Credit where it's due. A brilliant job was done of explaining why Foster was so detached when he was with the hooker in the previous book Skin Game.

And it looks as though the series is devoloping into a Breed-lite clone. Except that Kyra from the first book, Skin Game, was not a product of Micor labs...as far as I remember.

Despite two name changes for the hero I just couldn't get emotionally involved in the plot. A big part of the problem was Foster's characterisation. In Skin Game for the most part he was the big manipulator...unafraid of even his mafia-connected boss, Serrano. Here he is more a conflicted victim of circumstance and his own guilt trip. There was no reason for his hatred of Micor labs since Foster was never inside them. Micor had nothing to do with the fact that his daughter Alexis lay brain dead for so many years. In the end Foster had nothing to do with the destruction of Micor...that was down to Taye and Gillie. Also. It took awhile for me to understand Foster's paranormal trait. I remember asking myself. 'Why would Foster expect Mia not to recognise him. I don't get it.'

And no way would an organisation like Micor hire an outside embezzlement consultant to chase down a few million bucks. When what they were doing was an outrage against humanity...kidnapping, serial murder, human experimentation without consent.

Nor did the character of the heroine make much sense. Why did she suddenly become so lacking in confidence about her own feminity? Plus. When Mia is captured by the bad guy, well, she just gives in too easy in colluding with his fantasy world where all his prisoners are his 'guests.' Even some token resitance would have been appreciated by this reader.

The trouble was. No matter how long those two would have been at Micor they were never going to get close to the labs.

In Skin Game, Kyra nicely resolved her own problems by killing Serrano. Foster and Mia are completely tangential to the destruction of the silo-lab. Skin Tight is basically over-written. Foster doesn't read like a romance hero at all. More the main guy in an angsty piece of womens fiction. I never got emotionally involved because I was never sure of who the characters were or where they were going.

But it is a perfectly acceptable read. And I will be buying the next in the series.

All Jacked Up by Lorelei James

2010-05-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not saying this is a good write. But I loved this erotic e-read.

For much of the story it's pretty standard stuff. Jack and Keely think they don't like each other but they need each other for their respective careers so they shack up for a while, pretend to get engaged and become attracted to each other. But even then I loved Keely's huge family. The brothers, their wives, their kids. Adopted crippled kids from Romania, one-armed brothers, brothers who sculpt. All set in Wyoming. With some good but not particularly hot bump-and-grind. I really enjoyed the sex-toy scene though. But that was because the girl uses the toy on the guy for a change. And. Keely and Jack talk to each other. Sometimes not so nice but they communicate well. Which is why they do have a future together.

But once Jack took Keely into his 'architectural' world, well that's when I really started to get involved. Wow! That Martine. She was so nasty. And I was surprised how quietly Keely took her barbs. Like she was truely intimidated by the slick city bitch. What a curve-ball it was when Jack didn't get the project he wanted. While I didn't really like how he straight blamed Keely there was no doubt he was genuinely sorry afterwards.

This is a story with some themes. Country versus city. Family versus independence. Career versus happiness. None of which were resolved btw. But then why should they be. That's what life is about. No? There's a really bizarre scene at Jack and Keely's engagement party where about 4 of Keely's older brothers each in turn threaten to 'gut' Jack if he hurts Keely. Which is laughable really since Keely has had about half the county. And. Jack is best friends with Carter, the youngest of Keely's brother's. So the reader knows nothings gonna happen....unless you count trussing Jack up, heaving him into a pick-up bed to deliver to Keely. But that happens much later. Ha!

I hope the next story in the series shows that Jack's business thrives despite him losing the Milford project. And I hope he and Keely have lots of happiness together because they are very different people. Yup. I'll be reading the earlier stories too.

Basically. Unpretentious. Grounded. Very likeable.

His At Night by Sherry Thomas

2010-05-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

At the heart of this story is a completely malignant marital relationship. Between Edmund and Rachel Douglas. What I didn't understand or like is how Rachel comes out smelling of roses. Edmund basically terrorised the heroine, Elissande, for years. But it was Rachel who took away Elisande's identity. By telling her she was Edmund's daughter not his niece. One is as bad as the other. But somehow Rachel gets a happy ending. And it was Rachel who made Elisande feel so desperate that she basically pimped herself out. By the end of the book I absolutely hated Rachel. With her sudden recovery from her laudanum addiction. After placing her daughter in the position of a stool-counting servant for countless years. Yuk. Vere should have banished Rachel from his many homes.

For me. There was just too much underlying misery in the story. The way Vere treats Elissande is often very harsh. It sometimes seemed that Elissande had exchanged one tyrant for another. But that's what can happen when you just latch on to a complete stranger to be your protector. The book also contains a really miserable drunk consumation scene. Something that shouldn't really appear in a so-called romance nowadays. I liked the scenes when they were both pretending to be idiots. But there were just too few pages where they brought each other happiness. Especially very few happy nookie scenes. Even not many nice kissing scenes.

Basically the putrid relationship between uncle and aunt just took up too much of the book. I especially didn't appreciate the scenes where Edmund punched Elissande in the face. The two of them contributed to the enslavement of Elissande. And she should have been able to see that. Instead the reader gets an 'I love you Mommy - always and forever' scene. Charles Dickens always allowed the reader to recognise an evil emotionally manipulative parent. In this book we're supposed to empathise with her. It spoiled the story for me.

And. After spending about three quarters of the book (rightfully) despising Elissande, suddenly Vere had a change of heart. (coldly narrated in the third person)

Well-written. And heartless. Not that the reader will realise this until well over half-way into the book. Took me just 6 hours to read. That's because the writing style sucks the reader in. Only towards the final chapters does the reader realise that actually the story really isn't very nice...or romantic.

Reading Speeds

2010-05-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've gone through a little spell where I've been reading whole books in about 2 days. Really. That's too fast to appreciate a novel properly. (But it certainly cuts down on the DNFs.)

So. I'm going back to a book a week. Except for e-books.

Her Last Chance by Michele Albert

2010-05-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well. I will finish this book. But only because I was brought up to have good manners.

I just think the story, about minor art-thefts, is non-involving. And the characterisation of the main couple is very flat. Very little emotional content. The heroine, Claudia, chases after the hero, Vincent, almost desperately. Often he seems uninterested in what she's offering. And then when she's done the deed with him a number of times, Claudia isn't sure about having a real relationship with him, which he wants because he's portrayed as a totally decent sort of guy. There's no way these two can have more than a passing relationship because she has a job which takes her all over the US and even all over the world and he's an FBI guy. So what's the point?

Add to that. The fact that a number of chapters are devoted to the main bad guy (who within this story actually does nothing that merits him being called referenced as a 'bad -guy' and why on earth have him schleping around Vanessa who has all the appeal of a dead fish), the main couple from the previous book in the story arc( they do nothing in this story), and an ongoing story arc featuring Claudia's boss (who also does nothing). And I found I couldn't really stir up much interest in any of them.

Definitely not a romance. Sort of Suzanne Brockman...lite. And no. I wasn't hooked in to buy the preceding book in the series nor the sequel.

Wild Card: Reread

2010-05-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

News Flash. I still love it to pieces. Can't belive Wild Card was published over a year ago. Who do I read it for? Probably for Nathan. His demons are more compulsive. And the plot has become something of a hot topic. Strangely. But mainly I read it for Nathan and Bella. My eyes still get all watery when I read the final two chapters. Imagine Grant's pain for so many years when he couldn't love his sons. I just loved how despite all the emotion, Nathan still used the opportunity to re-negotiate his marriage contract.

Wild Card is just so good. And. I don't think it contains one single typo. That bears repeating. Not one single incorrect edit. Or even one superfluous character. Consistent plotting. The bad guys stay bad. Just so brilliant to make the Sherrif's wife the mole.

Something else I really appreciated. Yes. Nathan has been through hell. And still bears mental and physical scars. But he knows (and the reader quickly comes to know) he is never going to hurt or disrespect Bella. In fact. She runs rings around him. There is absolutely no chance of Nathan 'going postal.' I loved that.

I remember gushing about Wild Card after my first read. Here.

Other stuff I like. Sabella remembers that Nathan, who for the remainder of the story completely fulfills his role as an alpha-hero was in the habit of 'pouting' when he was annoyed with her. That was such a cool description. I loved how Bella felt when she found out she was expecting. Because at that time she didn't know if Nathan would stay with her. Patrick was found 'gutted like a fish.' Now I wonder who did that? All thankfully done out of story. I also appreciated that the other members of Elite Ops treated Nathan with respect...and did not make light of the problems that he had due to that drug with that totally stupid name.

Why did Nathan stay away for 6 years? I have no idea. Other than what he says is the reason. And I completely believe him. Why did Sabella take 6 years to come out of mourning. Again I don't know. She never explained that. She must have loved Nathan deeply. Too much bump and grind? Actually I thought it was great. The angst it produced in Sabella was astounding. But doing it with him is how she showed Nathan he could trust her with all that he had become and that he was wrong to hide his new nature from her. And in the end there was no doubt in my mind that Noah was just as gentle to Sabella as Nathan had been. That's how I saw it anyway.

I'm so glad I placed Wild Card above Lover Awakened. Not least because Wild Card is all about Nathan and Sabella...not just a few chapters.

And as we all know. Their son is called Nate. Ahh.

I wish more people would give this type of novel good reviews...

I'm waiting for one more book to arrive. Then it's back to making more choices. Actually although sometimes I get a bit fed up with reading romances that I don't like I will always keep going because I know that there will be a writer out there who produces something that is going to be that extra bit special.

Letters from a Scarlett Lady by Emma Wildes

2010-05-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Phew. For a moment there I got quite hot under the collar while reading about Brianna's efforts to spice up her marriage to Colton. Phew. I got especially hot when Colton actually discusses what Brianna's doing to him in the bedroom with his brother Robert! Phew! And suddenly I realised exactly why the vanilla romance between Brianna's friend Rebecca and the aforementioned Robert is inserted with boring regularity between the chapters detailing the marital shenanigans of Brianna and Colton.

Because otherwise readers might have been lead to believe that a menage between the two brothers and Brianna was on the cards. And really. This just isn't that sort of book. At all!

Phew. After that so nauti flight of fancy my imagination settled down. To enjoy the story for what it was. Apart from about two-thirds through the book. When Brianna is expecting. Basically. In those times of No Birth Control, I reckon most wives would have been more than grateful for every nookie-less night their husbands gave them unless they wanted to a) considerably shorten their life-spans by b) having a child every 2 years...until they died.

So you see. An historical romance written entirely for the 21st century female.

Actually. Brianna was such a nice female. Yes. She was young and naive. But she had good friends and a very lovely life. Apart from Colton. I got the impression that no matter how he justified his actions, this guy was never going to change his behaviour. And good luck to Brianna with that. He stopped her from visiting her parents! She should have brained him! Not acquiesed. What she really wanted was her husband to talk to her, with her, about the weather, about his work, about his likes, about her likes...anything. Imagine. On a carriage trip he actually hardly even looked at her once. If Brianna had had any pride she would have been insulted. But what did she do? Got down to some more dirty bump and grind. Ho hum.

The romance between Rebecca and Robert was just not interesting enough to hold my attention. I wondered what else could have been inserted in its place. Maybe the reader could have been given some episodes of Colton and his tenant farmers or Colton and his factory workers and how they (and their children) depended on him being so involved in estate business so much. To the extent that he didn't understand that personal relationships are very important. Just a thought.

The novel is full of Lords and Ladies talking endlessly about nookie between one house party and the next ballroom dance. It was incredibly socially exclusive. And. Nothing. Happens.

However. It is an excellent thoroughly decent erotic read. By which I mean the main couple don't do anywhere near as much as a Lora Leigh couple but actually I thought the story was smokin' hot.

The Earl's Forbidden Ward by Bronwyn Scott

2010-05-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hmm. The heroine, Tessa, is 22-years old. The hero, Peyton is around 38. If you can handle that kind of age gap between the main couple then this novel is a totally stonking read.

I didn't even bother to do a character count because everyone who appears has a purpose and place in the plot. Characters remain consistent. So the bad guys actually get more dastardly and evil as the story progresses. Boy oh boy the hero is really made to suffer. The poor guy. Amazingly the heroine, a gun-toting diplomat's daughter does actually rescue the hero from a truely horrible situation.

The plot itself is just a beautiful piece of work. Even though I didn't really understand the importance of the list. But the way the issue was resolved to both Peyton's and Tessa's satisfaction was pure genius. I mean. Kind-hearted Tessa didn't want the Russian Revolutionaries to be slaughtered, and patriotic Peyton didn't want grunts to lose their lives needlessly. So they came up with a solution between themselves. That alone showed how suited they were as a main couple.

I also loved the historical detail. By which I mean, the visit to the market, the visit to the zoo, the visit to the art exhibition and the Whitehall setting.

The main couple are two people who don't really fight their mutual attraction despite being characters in an historical and I liked that. Together with the fact that Tessa can be quite prickly and defensive about what's good for herself and her sisters. Readers need to know that the hero, Peyton, is a conniving liar for much of the story. But once he knows that he loves and wants to marry Tessa, nothing but nothing is going to make him betray her trust. So don't be put off by the opening few pages which don't really show him in a good light. I don't think Tessa makes a single mistake throughout the novel and she's beautiful too. Yup. She's that perfect.

There's plenty of canoodling. A medium sized body count. Maybe Count Sergei got off too lightly. The title's a bit of a clunker though. Tessa is not at any time 'a ward' in the accepted sense of the word. Like I said. She's an intelligent adult and more than used to running a household for her dead father and being responsible for her younger sisters. What she is throughout the story is 'in danger.' So basically. It's an excellent little Harlequin adventure story. Please be aware that series romances can be an acquired taste. i.e ignore the back cover blurb.

Absolutely fantastic book...Apart from the cover which is too ordinary...And the authors name. Which makes me think of little ol' ladies writing romances for little ol' ladies. If this book hadn't received a good review from another site there is no way I would have even thought about buying it. The author's real name is Nikki. That's a much better name for an author. The hero's name isn't much good either. But never mind...he's a great guy.

What Happens In London by Julia Quinn

2010-05-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

Cor. May already.

I read this historical romance (about 17 named characters in a 400 page novel) in 12 hours. The question is, 'Why do some authors get good reviews while others get criticism?'

The story on offer is basically a rehash of 'Rendevous' by JAK which was probably written in 1996 or some other ancient era. A much inferior rehash.

Basically this book begins seriously depressive, becomes light-hearted about mid-way and ends up in slap-stick. As in madcap. As in farcical. Completely negating all the serious scenes in the story. From which you can tell that I didn't laugh when I was supposed to and just got annoyed. My bad.

The plot is just as full of holes as, say, Heat Seeker. With some identical weaknesses. Like turning the so called bad guy into a harmless guy half way through the novel. The Prince Alexei who tells Olivia he's like to rape her (in Russian) is not the same guy who listens enthralled to Sebastian as he acts out that ghastly 'story within a story' Ms Butterworth and the Mad Baron. I grew to hate that stupid novella.

Another piece of useless padding was all that stuff about the hero's father's relationship with alcohol. What purpose did that serve? It was completely irrelevant to the storyline? The hero Harry cleans up his Dad's puke 127 times. Did I really need to know that? Or how Harry changed his mind about going to college on a whim. Just totally irrelevant. And just why did Olivia's Mom leave her alone to be slobbered over by the Prince?

What was good about the story is how Olivia and Harry fall in love. That was nice. There is no way Olivia's aristocratic Dad would ever, ever have accepted Harry's proposal to his daughter. Harry has much less wealth and status. Olivia will be sneered at by many of her peers for marrying Harry. I only say that because in the story so much is written about the social positions of each of the main couple.

I didn't like how useless Harry is in finding Olivia when she is kidnapped. He acts completely irrationally and almost has fisticuffs with a guy who is basically harmless...that's the legacy of a drunk Dad of course. There is one scene of rumpy-pumpy in the whole story. It felt completely out of sync with the general tone of the book. Which is 'kisses' as AAR might say. It very much read like the hero was taking advantage of a naive ninny heroine.

In the end I felt let down because the story seemed to promise so much and actually delivered very little that was interesting. Like really neither of the main couple have any character at all. I mean the author goes out of her way to portray the heroine as have absolutely no attributes other than being beautiful. And loyal to her friends and family. Whilst the hero is basically disempowered by his family. Harry's behaviour after about the middle of the book turns out to be rather shabby and shallow. The hero's bff Sebastian is written way more interesting than Harry. But that's probably deliberate sequel baiting. When I think about it even the bodyguard Vladimir is more interesting than Harry.

I think Caroline Linden's View To A Kiss covers pretty much the same ground also.

But nothing can compare to the AWESOME 'Rendevous.'

Coincidentally. I think all three books have the same name for the hero. But only Rendevous writes the hero as being in control of his life. And only Rendevous gives the heroine any character at all. I thought Augusta was an absolutely marvellous creation. Particularly when she challenges her husband to a duel even though she has zilch fighting skills. Now that was meaningfully funny. It is also one of the few romances that portrays both the courtship and the married life of the main couple. Like I said. Awesome!

tbh Reading a novel like 'What Happens' makes me understand (and appreciate) the market for edgey erotica. RockOn Lora!..et al.

Her Vampire Husband by Michele Hauf

2010-04-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

I hated this story. It will probably end up being a dnf for me.

Here is why.

An arranged marriage between a werewolf princess and a vampire clan chief. The heroine is deliberately written as an airhead. Rather like Emma in Hunger Like No Other. Unfortunately this one, Blu, comes across as very mean-spirited.

Ok. Its an arranged marriage. And she didn't want to go through with it but she had to because Daddy said so. Fine. Some females are like that. And she doesn't want to do any bump and grind because it's an arranged marriage. Fine. Even though she's had a previous partner right up until the wedding. Not that she loves him either. Thats cool.

A lot is made of the difference between werewolves and vampires in the story. And the werewolf princess thinks its cool to call the vampire all the nasty names she can think of. Well. One way to read the story is like it was an inter-racial marriage. So she calls her husband the n-word and herself the h-word. Is that nice? Is that clever?

I took all that on board. And made no judgements intially. After all its a werewolf and vampire story. Nothing else.

But then. Blu. Who doesn't like her new husband. Calls him names. Is generally disrespectful about his cultural habits. This Blu. Asks her husband if she can have some spending money. !!!! Puh-lese! That's where my judgemental self woke up. I felt embarrassed on behalf of the female population in general. And later on Blu trolls victims for Creed to bite. There's real-life serial killers with similar profiles to this main couple.

That's why I put the book down. And am unlikely to pick it up again.

Although I have figured out what the problem for me is. The spine of the book says 'paranormal romance' but it isn't. Its urban fantasy.

Heat Seeker by Lora Leigh

2010-04-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed Heat Seeker (50+ named characters in a 300 page novel) even though about half-way through reading it I took time to set up a spreadsheet to list all the names and I read another novel, Heartbreaker by Linda Howard. (7 named characters.) between chapters. Just for comparison.

I very much like all the Elite Ops heroines, Sabella, Lilly and Bailey. (As opposed to the heroines of the previous SEALs series, who were mainly bat-crazy and delusional imo.) Although I think it is a shame that the series seems to have moved into socio-economic group A. The first book, Wild Card was set around a struggling gas station if I recall…and that was an absolute stonker.

Who is the arms-dealer and traitor Warbucks? That is the plot of Heat Seeker. Other reviewers have griped on about how Mary suddenly changes into Jules. I have to admit that was a cruise missile out of nowhere. Particularly during the denouement, within a couple of pages (321 to324), one minute the character is Mary, then she’s Jules, then she changes back to being called Mary. It is very very strange. However. There was a precursor to that craziness on page 71. In the course of one paragraph the reader is told Micah Sloan's real name is David Abijah, his current alias is Jerric Abbas but then the heroine Bailey refers to him as Mr Abdul and Azra. Later on Bailey calls him Garren Abijah. That’s six different names for one minor character. And even earlier, the hero is named John Vincent when he should still be Trent Daylen ie before the explosion that killed Timmons.

Actually even though I knew what to expect I still have to admit…I’ve never come across anything like it ever ever before. Are the publishers too scared of the author?

There’s more on the plus side in Heat Seeker. Some of the dialogue is great. Landon Roth gets told ‘release Bailey or you’ll die hard.’ And Bailey herself has a great response to John Vincent. The killer for me was towards the end, when Myron reveals that he’s helping Bailey, he says, “I’m old and tired. And I voted for our current president. I believe in him.” I laughed out loud at that. But was unexpectedly impressed by the throwaway line about Saddam. There’s plenty of hotness too. I suppose you could say the story gives the reader an insight into the world of illegal arms-trading and how it connects to the rich, powerful, and double-dealing agency staff. It’s all a bit too labyrinthine for me though.

The real weakness, I suppose, is things like Raymond Greer suddenly changing into a good guy half way through the story. So a totally new bad guy, Landon, has to be introduced to provide some action. Rodriquez presumably is suddenly put in for the same reason. And suddenly around page 230 Bailey is defending the four fathers where towards the beginning of the novel the reader is lead to believe that one of them is Warbucks. Otherwise the reader might get bored with all the pointless chatter going on. And the endless round of house parties. Not me though. I even enjoyed the final chapter discussion about that silly contract. Bailey came across as a very kind-hearted princess.

Let’s see. Elite Ops have official permission to terminate a rich powerful American citizen (suspected traitor of course), the gun-runner Warbucks…on American soil. Isn’t that a completely illegal activity? Isn’t that the kind of action that Jason Bourne and Pamela Landy objected to …the kind of action that got Agency Director Ezra Kramer fired in Bourne Ultimatum? In fact Travis and the team execute Rodriguez in cold blood. Bailey of course doesn’t know jack…she suspects everyone except the real Warbucks…I can only handle one red herring per novel not dozens while she flails around clueless. Plus she has to be rescued (by John Vincent) from the only two tight situations she finds herself in…with Landon and Alberto.

Yet somehow. Despite all the craziness. Maybe because of all the good parts. This is a perfectly readable and entertaining novel. Readers may like to know the first Bourne novel was a dnf for me because Bourne slaps Marie around. That certainly didn’t appear in the movies. The point I’m making is good novelists can have iffy things happen in their stories.

...begorrah! I'm reviewing Lora Leigh books again. I was under the impression that I had given her up. Probably do Maverick next.

Black Jack by Lora Leigh

2010-04-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

I fully accept that this novel has been written by 'The Studio of Lora Leigh'. Similar to 'The Studio of Michelangelo' producing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Italy. And yes. Lora's little group has produced an absolutely great story...with a few minor flaws (of course).... rather like those ghastly 'putti.'

Wow! They have borrowed ideas from 2 of my fave romances. Katya Deker being sent to the French psych hospital by her Senator Mom in Crazy Cool and the garage scene with Peter and Genevieve in Cold As Ice. Wow! How could I not like this novel?

Basically Black Jack is a romance between 2 English blue-bloods, set in the US. Huh! And it is a most joyous read. Particularly after the miserable dirge that was Fragile. I was most impressed by Travis's real name. Many writers of historical romances would struggle to come up with such an impressive moniker for a hero.

There may have been a million plot-holes and all sorts of craziness in the world around them but Lily and Travis remained rock-solid in their attraction to each other. Lily didn't so much as bat her eye-lashes at another guy. Although she was sporadically full of minor insecurities. And who can blame her. What with losing her memory...twice. Being shot in the head! Despite that both Lill and Travis are full of life and not afraid to (repeatedly) ride around on big bikes (no doubt bought with taxpayers cash...but that's ok by me for once) for no other reason than to meet for a night of bump and grind.

An added bonus was the presence of some of the characters from previous books...Morganna and her guy! I ask you...that's ancient history! Plus Wild Card. He actually gets to say a few lines. (More please)

The plot really starts about page 40. Other reviewers have called the earlier pages 'the prologue.' Signifying that it wasn't present on some versions of the e-book. The author probably did originally write that Lilly's Dad returned alive with the brother Jared. And then most likely changed her mind. Unfortunately all the references to the returned Dad in the final chapter haven't been sent to the rubbish bin. But this is a Lora Leigh book so experienced readers know to expect editorial craziness.tee hee.

It actually doesn't matter that Lily never fully recovers her memories...the girls know her as their sister and she relies heavily on her 'instincts' honed over the previous 6 years. I had no trouble with that. My only hitch of breath occurred when Angelica says 'For sure.' Most unlikely considering the way she is written. I was so impressed by how although Lily loves her Mom she absolutely does not allow her to influence her relationship with Travis. That alone shows she has some common sense and backbone. I tend to despise those romances (mainly historical) where a supposed gutsy heroine is basically a slave to her parents wishes. (ie marry a stranger for the sake of the family.) That's just me though.

...i'm probably going to go back and read Heat Seeker despite its bad rep. And So Should You!!! :)

Stuff I learned from reading Black Jack...

1. When a Lord dies his title goes to his brother. Despite the fact that the dead guy had a grown-up son. Total craziness at the very start of the story.

2. Paramilitary groups operate freely in the U.S.

3. You can have extensive facial reconstructive surgery and never feel any aches or pain or need to massage the affected area.

4. Hagerstown, Maryland is an epicentre of spy activity.

5. Elite Ops are the dumbest ever...the whole 'highly trained' group
couldn't spot Lilly going into the sports bar.

...or am I wrong?

Fragile by Shiloh Walker

2010-04-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is the book that spawned Broken. And it is a very twisted read. (And nowhere near as good as the slightly similar Obsession by Sharon Cullen...who needs to publish a new story soon please.)

Surely the heroine Devon was purposefully written as a serial victim. And really I couldn't see why such bad bad things keep happening to her. Even I questioned what was going on with her hallucinating about 'nasty' Luke. I couldn't make sense of it.

But. She also has good stuff happen. Being adopted by the Mannings, loving Luke, steady job, kicking her habit. Despite the description of Devon I thought she was one of those beautiful people who don't actually realise how pretty they are. Readers need to know she is seriously molested by more than one psycho during the course of the story. She is at her weakest when she doesn't know what is happening to her mind...that's when she kicks Luke out. But essentially she is a strong person...although what's the point of being strong when so much rubbish happens to her.

I hadn't a clue what was going on with Quinn or how he happened to show up just in time to save Luke and Devon. That was never really explained. The philosophy of Devon's life is to rely on luck to sort things out. Although she doesn't seem to realise that. It was great to read as the relationship developed between Luke and Devon. There's plenty of hot scenes between the pair of them. The story ends very abruptly...I think what happened was that the novel ended in the bedroom and then someone in the crit group probably whined 'But what about that poor guy Quinn?' and so we got the final scene between the three of them which goes absolutely nowhere.

Geez. Poor Danielle. I bet no follow-up book is written about her. That's what comes of being friends with a serial victim.

When I originally read the review of Fragile on Amazon I did actually reject it because I could guess just what Devon's 'troubled youth' entailed...going by the number of that type of book on the best-seller lists. But I was suckered into buying Fragile by reading Broken and I had forgotten what I read about Fragile.

Although the descriptions of Devon's underage-abuse are thankfully sparse I didn't really enjoy reading about how disrespectfully she was treated by Curtis and Tony. I think I would have preferred it if Devon had been more of a devious fighter...and had managed to prevent at least one of those 3 nasty incidents from taking place..(the one with Curtis preferably because then maybe the completely innocent Danielle might not have been hurt so bad.) She should also have recognised a crap shrink for what she was. She should have told Luke the name of Tim's Dad and what she knew about his background. And. The times Devon felt afraid to go into her own house, that's when she should have rung Luke and suggested they move into his condo. If the nightmares had continued then she could have suspected him. Having said all that I have to ask 'What good was Luke in the story?' Cos all he actually did was ring the cops when Curtis was already dead anyway. And so we come to the important question. Is Devon addicted to being a victim? And is that what drives Luke to her? Many times during the course of the story he admits he's an adrenaline junkie. If Luke had really cared he would have advised Devon to 'Carry A Weapon At All Times.'

Also. I have no idea about what was going on with Quinn, Luke and Tony's Unit. Or why Tony went crazy. Read totally like opsec paranoia to me.

In the final analysis the novel was a bit strong (and indecipherable) for me. In fact I wish I hadn't read it. But many other readers will probably be very impressed with the story.

I first read a book like this from one of my favorite male authors. Now deceased. It was like he came to hate most of the characters he had spent about 10 years creating and fleshing out. And so towards the end of his life he just wrote about bad things happening to them. For me its like watching someone bully helpless people. Not very edifying at all. So in the end, I know exactly who to blame for what kept happening to Devon. Shame On You!

p.s. I know I sound completely crazy. But it's a genuine heartfelt protest.

Broken by Shiloh Walker

2010-04-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well...What I say is this. In a story full of characters with names like Quinn, Don, Sara and James, why introduce a character who is basically raped and beaten to death and call her Elena. Her only function is to highlight Quinn's supposed inability to express his emotions to people he wants to care about. But that's just me and my opinion...in my capacity as CEO of the Society for the Protection of Minor Characters.

Basically I suppose this is Quinn's story. His main parent for most of his youth was a drunk, foul-mouthed mother. So it's understandable that he's not really confident in making relationships. I suppose. But. Something that Quinn does have is a wonderful fairy godmother. So when his mom dies he is whisked off to a rich rancher Dad. And then at the end of the story (spoiler alert) incredibly the main bad-guy dies by his own hand, so Quinn gets his girl. Lucky ol' Quinn.

For me the trouble with the story was Sara. And how the reader is led to believe that she is an abused wife. Because then it would seem that Sara is having a relationship with a new guy Quinn when she hasn't resolved the poisonous relationship with her abusive guy. And she's certainly picked what looks like another controller in Quinn. He programs her cell phone number into his cell without telling her; he shows up at her place of work when she hasn't actually told him where she works.

Despite all that I ended up feeling sorry for Quinn. Because I would say that Sam is not a good relationship for him. Sam is in fact pretending to be Sara to lay a false trail for Sara's abusive husband. There is no way the mindset of the sister of a marital abuse victim would in any way be the same as that of the abuse victim herself. But that is what the reader is lead to believe. Or so it seemed to me. It was just ridiculous that after all his threats, James decided to take his own life and so leave everyone free to carry on happily ever after. (With Sara being the ultra-rich widow seeing how she was still married to James at the time of his death.) Sam totally played Quinn and she should have been made to grovel some. I don't remember coming across a heroine who absolutely refuses to trust the hero with any relevant information at all.

From almost the beginning this book totally read like it was the minor character follow-up of a successful novel. Good luck to Quinn as he watches the lovely Sam change back into a blimp now that she doesn't have to run anymore. Actually he'll probably be very happy with such a completely normal relationship.

What I enjoyed most about the story was that the main characters worked blue-collar jobs and that Quinn thought in terms of his (and Sam's) future when he took that high-paying job.

Not to be compared to Tate and Matt in Lauren Dane's novel ....Chase. But an interesting read anyhow.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

2010-04-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Not a good read.

Why. Because it features quite a nasty human experimentation sub-plot which adds an unexpected and unwelcome gore/horror element. Because it introduces stuff which turn out to be completely irrelevant. Like the parasol. And the octopus device. Because the heroine, Alexia spends a lot of time complaining about the dark color of her skin. But that is also an irrelevancy. Endless pages are spent describing the interior decorations of each house Alexia visits. Totally irrelevant. Giving many characters silly names doesn't constitute wit either.

And not least because it is set in a kind of alternative reality in Victorian times where everything but the kitchen sink, including the presence of Queen Victoria herself, is thrown into the plot. Lots of things made no sense. How could all those vampires and werewolves be captured so easily by the scientists? I couldn't detect anything alpha about Maccon. Often he read as little more than a buffoon. Just why did Alexia stay with a family who denied her a coming-out season because of her color?

Unfortunately the romance is weak. By the third book in the series the heroine has left her husband. But actually the heroine herself is a passive pain. She's one of those (inexplicably popular recently) hero types who relies on people around her to save her and get hurt. She does very little herself. Other than 'be special.' And be hypercritical of herself and most of the other females in the story. I kept waiting for Alexia to 'solve the mystery.' But it's the minor characters who do all that. Completely off-book. Instead the reader is forced to read page after page of out-dated pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo.Also. For some reason I've developed an instinctive dislike of happy-clappy servants who just love their masters. There's a whole gaggle of them in this book.

The novel is 'steam-punk' and so so clever it's up its own end. Waste of time really.

How Can This Be?!

2010-03-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

When last I trawled the internet for news of Loose Ends by Tara Janzen the publish date was August 2010.

Now I read that the date has been put back to January 2011!!!!

That is completely ridiculous.

Why put out one date and then change it to another one that is over six months later?

Skin Game by Ava Gray

2010-03-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

I absolutely loved this story. From chapter 2 onwards. Can you believe it?

It's the story of a romance between an grifter and a killer for hire. You would think that both these types were much too cynical to, ahem, 'fall in love' but that is exactly what happens. And I totally believed in the romance as it unfolded. Because when either one of the main couple, Kyra Marie and Reyes feels rejected or ignored by the other, they feel miserable and want to cry. I even accepted the totally ridiculous paranormal thread that runs throughout the novel. Can you believe at a couple of points in the story I had to take a tea-break because the tension was getting to me! There are of course secondary characters, Foster and Mia and I was even interested in how they were doing. I thought the bad guy, Serrano was a nasty piece of work. Yes. There's a lot of shooting and killing in the story. But it doesn't happen to innocent bystanders...just criminals.

Much of the novel is basically a road trip where the main couple learn stuff about each other...even though neither is exactly the talkative type. Get this. The hero, Reyes, like Kade in Shades of Midnight, also has some issues with a deadbeat Dad. But he has worked through them in an entirely realistic way. Kyra on the other hand still looks at her own crappy father with rose-tinted glasses. But at the end of the novel even she consciously lets go of the ties she still had to her life with her Dad. Reyes talked about 'Dad's who put their own pleasure before the welfare of their kids.' I loved all that. (Mainly because I see many Moms who do exactly the same thing.) And then there's a throwaway line about the 'Pretty Woman' movie. Condemning it for making prostitution seem like a fairy-tale. I loved that too.

Geez. The heroine, Kyra. Has. Never. Been. To. School. I absolutely loved her character and attitude. Geez. She actually read through much of 'A Hundred Years of Solitude.' I also loved how she treats Reyes once she discovers he's been lying his head off to her. Make no mistake though. Everyone in the novel. Has Money.

What didn't ring true was how she was going to trust her millions to her friend Mia. I was also quite amazed how much killing Kyra does without any kind of hesitation.

tbh. There were some gaping plot holes. I didn't really understand why Serrano took Snow to Switzerland, killed him, and then think no-one would suspect him. Also. I didn't really understand how Kyra relieved Serrano of all that money. She said she only did one-night stands; does that mean she had a non-biblical relationship with Serrano. Is that really likely?

btw. I suspected I would like this story as I read the scene where Kyra checks into a dive motel and examines the water jug for signs of meth cooking. I just love cool refs in contemporary romances.

Best read of the year so far.

p.s. I have now read some of the other reviews of this novel. One of the reasons I am not bothered by Kyra's and Reye's moral justifications of who they victimise is that, well, they are both hardened criminals. Their real mantra, which is also touched upon in the novel, is 'Dont Get Caught.' Everything else is just padding to keep up their self-esteem which is basically what you need when you do what they do and have the crappy upbringings they both had. New readers might like to know that Kyra literally stomps Serrano to death. And Reyes doesn't bat an eyelid...her actions absolutely do not even register on his moral compass.

It goes without saying that I have never met people like Kyra and Reyes. But I have met many people who just think (and behave) differently from the norm. You just have to accept them for what they are. Non-criminals. If either Kyra or Reyes ever appeared in court. You just know it would (deservedly) be LWOP for both. Minimum. But the story isn't about reality. Anyway, I liked the tableau it presented of criminals killing other criminals and cheating other bullies. Far far better than the morals on view in Stephanie Rowe's Chill; where criminals saying 'sorry' is acceptable when innocent people have been hurt.

The Golden Season by Connie Brockway

2010-03-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

This is one of those romances where the main couple, Lydia and Ned, spend a lot of time apart. And too many pages are spent describing the lives of supposedly minor characters. I got tired of reading about Emma Cod’s kleptomania, Sarah’s slutting or Childe Smythe’s longing to be accepted by society.

The thing was. I could see the plot development a mile off. Lydia and Ned fall in love. One of them finds out the other has no money and calls off the romance. But in the end true love conquers all. The trouble was. Half way through the book and still nothing had happened. Ned was still wasting his time over his lame-brain cousins. And Lydia was just seeing Childe Smythe in a more sympathetic light. Also one or both of the main couple needed to do some serious grovelling for placing social position and wealth above happiness. And I know, with this author, that isn’t going to happen.

I’m almost ashamed to admit…dnf…lightweight and boring.

Shades of Midnight by Lara Adrian

2010-03-11T12:24:00.000-08:00

Another novel set in Alaska again featuring a bush pilot…but this time it’s the heroine, Alexandra.

This is the latest in a series about good vampires fighting bad vampires. Yup, it’s a bit Blade-ish. And like all the others in the series, quite elitist with lots of ‘master-slave’ elements as depicted in the ‘Rogue-Minion’ relationships.

tbh I thought the story was perfectly acceptable. But nothing special either. In fact. For me it came very close to being boring. I read it in about a day and a half. It contains some hot love scenes. But from the story point of view the guys get all the action.

Some things kept me from fully liking the plot. The heroine, Alex, admits she fell into bed in a New York minute with the local cop who had a sideline in dealing because she was feeling sorry for herself. But then she seems to take an age making up her mind about doing the deed with the good guy because she ‘knows nothing about him.’ That got on my nerves. Her dithering just held up the story. Then. The hero Kade seems to have gained the impression that his Dad belittled him throughout most of his childhood and teenage years. But all the Dad has to do is apologise and give a reason for his behaviour and all is forgiven by Kade. Huh? Kade doesn’t feel anger toward his Dad?? A bit of tough love by Dad toward the older brother might have saved his life. And Kade doesn’t tell him that?! Relationship issues that are glossed over tend to reappear later on…with evil effect.

The best part for me was when Teagan made an appearance. And please god, that creep, Harvard will turn into a traitor not just another member of the Order.

The In Death Challenge

2010-02-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

I used to read the In Death series. Then I stopped. Because to read book after book with (often) detailed descriptions of child abuse made me ask myself 'Are Eve's memories being written as a form of entertainment?' Ugh.

The second reason I stopped is that I read a couple of the In Death books where I thought Eve was totally wrong to punish the 'perps'. (The Icahn killers; her abusive stepmom's killer.) She has a much too 'black and white' view of crime. And it made her seem narrow-minded. (Which of course is why the author has to keep reminding the reader that Eve used to be a victim too.)

Chill by Stephanie Rowe

2010-02-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

This is about the 10th time I have tried to write a review for this book. Which I read in about 2 days. That tells you its well written but extremely problematic.

I need to tell you. Everything the heroine believes in turns out to be true. But that doesn't make the book better; just worse. Also tbh the main couple who are initially presented as being an antiquities expert (her) and a bush pilot (him) actually turn out to be a couple of quite sordid low-lifes.

Another caution. The novel is chocabloc full of men owning and using weapons. With the result that a number of completely innocent people are terrorised and/or seriously injured.

I never realised that the antique jewellery business was so incredibly dirty. Or that a necklace and earing set could be worth half a billion dollars.

In theory the story contains adventure, exotic (cold) locations, romance and a happy ending. And there's a lot packed into quite a short novel.

Let's discuss the romance. Actually there's not much. It's more like a 'will to couple' on his part. I always take a step back when the author has the heroine admit she kissed 'countless others.' Because in theory that makes it about 10 times as hard to persuade the reader that the heroine is falling in love in the novel itself. (It's like sabotaging your own work.) Believe me. I never got persuaded that the heroine doesn't kiss or hump like you and I shake hands when we meet someone new. There is one big love scene towards the end of the book. It seemed to me that the heroine used her body to get the hero to disclose the whereabouts of the missing earings....and then she knowingly betrayed that knowledge to his enemies for some half baked scheme she decided upon without the hero's slightest consent. In the hope that 'everything would turn out all right.' Which it did. But only because its a piece of fiction.

The heroine turned out to be the daughter of a hooker. A hooker who kept her daughter hungry and dressed in hand-me-downs while she bought glamour wigs and short skirts for her trade. But of course. Daughter absolutely dotes on Mommy. Eventually Mommy gets a respectable job where she immediately falls for a guy. But when she tells the guy she used to be a hooker the guy dumps her. So Mommy goes straight back to the life...the rough life. And when she gets beat up by a john the daughter beats the guy to death. But the daughter, our 29 yo heroine, still dotes on her dead hooker Mommy. Because they were the 'best of friends'. In my book, the hooker Mom had an abusive relationship with her daughter. What's more the daughters fixation in finding a substitute father figure exactly mirrors the hooker Mommy's fixation in finding a respectable fiance to marry. But Ms 'PhD' Isabella couldn't see that. And in believing the loathsome Marcus Fie is a kindly caring old man Isabella goes to Alaska to ask Luke for help. But in actual fact Isabella is being sent to flush out Luke by the bad guys. Because they know he can't resist a beautiful body...and they also seem to know that Isabella isn't going to say 'No' to Luke. Jeez. I wonder how they came to that conclusion!

Terrible things happen to Isabella. She gets shot and doesn't go to get the wound treated. She gets pistol-whipped. Of all things. And about 2 hours later in the very next scene is humped by the hero. One of the bad guys cuts her gun wound with a knife in order to make her suffer. Two minutes later she's sitting on evil ol Marcus's lap twittering happily at the reconciliation between father and son. In fact. Isabella is a serial victim. Completely not in control of her own destiny. Bad enough she was emotionally blackmailed by her mom into committing murder. (Thank goodness the stupid woman died.) She was manipulated into going to Alaska. She allowed Marcus to pick her up in college. She is an employee who lives with her employer. And ever so slightly sociopathic. The expecting Roseanne being shot in front of her eyes produced a minimal emotional reaction on her part. She closed her eyes to the goings on in Marcus's house for 8 years.She can do that because she has no moral compass other than her own needs and wants. Totally another legacy from the hooker mom from hell. That's not my kind of heroine but I can see the potential appeal for other readers.

Before the final chapter I had grown to hate Isabella. For her stupid idolising of her hooker mom. And for the pain and destruction that followed in her wake once she arrived in Alaska. How did she come to locate Luke? Why didn't she have any conversation with herself about that maybe he had the right to remain lost to his Dad? What Isabella actually did was a gross invasion of Luke's privacy. After reading the final chapter I just felt guilty that I'd hated Isabella so much. I still didn't like her. I said to myself 'I need to reread this story to see Isabella in a different light.' But I couldn't bring myself to do that.

I liked the heroLuke/Adam for quite a while. He at least, had some idea of the violence and criminality of his former life. That is until he admitted he drunkenly shot some completely innocent interior decorator by mistake thinking that it was his father coming through the front door. And he admitted he was a violent robber on behalf of his father. In fact Luke's life as Adam, together with his bro's Nate, Zack and Leon is an excellent case study for stricter gun control. And poor ol innocent Anna got drawn into that cesspit and paid for it with her life. The vision of Marcus skipping off into the sunset left me feeling nauseated.

In the end Isabella and Luke probably deserve each other. No doubt in a couple of years he'll shoot her dead in a drunken row because she's decided to move some 'misunderstood' teenage crack addict into the house.

A ghastly couple. I felt so sorry for Cort. All the money in the world can't undo brain trauma. No way will he be able to go back to being a bush pilot.

Pass.

Disclaimer

2010-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

Ok. I admit it. I'm one of those sorry reviewers who actually has to beeyouwhy all the novels they read.

So following recent experiences I'd like to publically ponder on the meaning of 'in stock.'

To me 'in stock' means...The book supplier receives an order (from me) on one day. The next day they package up the book(s). Then the day after that the merchandise gets shipped. Well that's how it used to be.

What 'in stock' does not mean is. T.E.N days after the order has been received the supplier still hasn't shipped the goods. To me. That is 'OUT of stock.' What's more. I don't like suppliers that don't tell the truth about whether a novel is in stock or not.

Looking forward to Loose Ends by Tara Janzen

2010-01-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

The full title is Loose Ends: A Steele Street Novel.

So no nonsense about younger heroes and heroines anymore. They were all anonymous anyhow. Though they shouldn't have been because they all had good connections to 738. But that's what happens when you let a 'crit-club' write your novels for you.

Actually. I Can't Wait for this story. Although obviously, I'm going to have to seeing how it isn't published until August 2010!!! And then I'll cry. Because there is no doubt (in my mind anyway) that this will really be the last Steele Street novel. An excerpt is up on the authors website. J T staking out 738 to get Scout back. Plus being set up for his own obligatory romance. Cherie Hacker is around again. At one point I was sure she was being set up for a romance with Gabriel, Red Dog's brother.

I've been re-reading my absolute faves. Crazy Cool (probably the most sensuous romance I've ever read), Love and Sweet. All of which feature the totally weird relationship between Dylan and Skeeter. I love them both. And Supes and Katya. I'm thinking of going on a fanfiction site to rewrite Sweet. Basically having Royce going down a lot harder. With Dylan doing the damage. Royce got off too easy for all the pain he caused Dylan and Gillian. But I probably won't do that because I'm a person who enjoys reading a lot more than writing.

The real difference between the Loose series and the Steele series is that the latter had 'the starts of the major romances in one novel that was finished in another novel, 'a la Suzanne Brockman.' Nothing like that happened in the Loose series. A feature of both series was that a lot of time was supposedly spent inside the hero's head...with him usually obsessing about the heroine. People might say 'That's a girl writer pretending to know how a guy thinks for girl readers. Hur hur.' But I've decided it doesn't matter. From a reality point of view. I love my romances to be all about the 'shadows on a cave wall.' And Steele Street is stellar cave wall stuff.

6 Steele Street novels were turned out in about 2 years. So why recently are we faithful followers just getting one novel annually? I reckon the author is writing other books under a different name. Does anyone out there have a clue what the new pseudonym is?

Yours eternally grateful.....

Nauti Nights by Lora Leigh

2009-10-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

For some reason I was hugely entertained by this novel.

The first reason was the mention of a ‘double cab black pickup.’ Just rolls off the tongue don’t it. I did a search on those words. Apparently Toyota make a model they call the ‘Intimidator.’ The inside is nice enough comfy but to be honest the ‘pickup’ part of it looked a tad small…barely enough to hold an average size hound dog. What I’d really like to know is..is it a gas-guzzler? Are there still people who drive vehicles like that without a thought to cost?

Another reason was the portrayal of the bad guy, Johnny Grace. You mean a guy can dress up as a woman, walk into a detention centre, and not be laughed out of the place?!! But all in all he was an excellent home-grown traitor. I seem to remember one of the mothers of the Mai-Lai soldiers wailing ‘I gave the army a good boy. They brought me back a killer.’ Well. Here. The army gets a twisted human being to begin with. Johnny is supposed to be intelligent, he owns a successful small business…yet he hatches a plan that involves slitting someone’s throat, selling nuclear missiles to potential tangos, keeping a million dollars all for himself, and staying safe in his small town. All because he hates James ‘Dawg’ MacKay, the hero of this story. To whom he is related to in some shirttail southern way. Plus. This is the first novel I have read that features 4 gay ex-soldiers. All young too. Not just ordinary soldiers but all ex special ops or snipers or some special specialism.

I also liked the way the story started. With the heroine Crista Ann simply an innocent person caught up in a warehouse shootout through no fault of her own. And from there the plot and the romance slowly unwind. I particularly liked that Crista had a fairly uneventful childhood and hadn’t been attacked or abused like so many heroines in borderline erotics. It was the hero Rowdy who had the difficult family relationships. But I wasn’t fooled. Rowdy had quite a bit of inherited wealth. So well done Crista Ann. Although I don’t usually comment on the details of a hot erotic romance readers might like to be aware that the ‘innocent’ heroine accepts anal on her first night with the drunken hero. And likes it too. But don’t let that put anyone off from reading the story. It ends with some really cute heartwarming dialogue between the main couple as they affirm their feelings for one another.

On the cautious side. Readers should be aware that the whole earthshattering plot takes place in a small Kentucky town in the middle of nowhere where there are some really strange and some really poisonous family relationships. Happily there was not much screaming melodramatics and absolutely no hysterics between the main couple. But yes, the hero and his ‘special forces’ friends still come across as lunkheads seeing how they let Johnny play them for far too long. I even liked the set-up for the next book in the series…obviously featuring Natches. But I wasn’t too taken by the glimpses of his intended, Greta Dane. Who actually undergoes a name change to Chayna in the Natches book.

Now we come to the tough part.

I admit to reading the first novel in the Nauti series, Nauti Boy. About 9 months ago. I couldn’t review it at the time I read it. I didn’t have enough mental strength for that. It’s not that it is a bad book. It’s just that you have to have a strong belief in the Goodness Of Mankind in order to take the relationships presented to you on the pages. A. very. Strong. belief.

Here goes. There is a guy in it called Ray. He is the father of the hero, Rowdy and also the stepfather of the heroine, Kelly. That’s fine. Kelly is never harmed by Ray or Rowdy in any way. Except of course adult Kelly and Rowdy are the main couple. But at one point in the story Ray wishes he had married Kelly’s mom before she married Kelly’s dad because then Kelly would really be his daughter. So where would that put the relationship between Kelly and Rowdy? What’s more, Ray seems to have been involved in a threesome with Kelly’s mom and dad on more than one occasion. I just thought ‘Yuk.’ Or even ‘Poor Kelly. What chance does she have of forming a normal relationship with anyone.’

And in the beginning Kelly comes under a lot of pressure to be part of a ménage with Rowdy and his two cousins. And yes, Kelly IS one of those erotic heroines who has nearly been brutalised. I read with all the fascination of watching a cobra sway in the sand. I was quite amazed when Kelly, after a few awkward encounters with the three guys actually chose to say no to the ménage and yes to just being involved with Rowdy. In fact it was the character of Kelly that kept me reading. Although a lot of what she did was to compensate Rowdy for not sharing. The constraints of the novel meant she had to put out but really, she should have been given more time to regain her confidence after quite a nasty experience with the bad guy, particularly by Rowdy who kept saying he wouldn’t rush her. But he did.

A big deal was made in the novel about how Rowdy and his two cousins, Dawg and Natches were these really ace ex-marines who would protect Kelly from her homicidal stalker. But again the lone stalker who turned out to be a total geek kept getting the better of Rowdy and his friends. In fact in the end it was Kelly who distracted the killer whilst Rowdy, Dawg and Natches could recover from all three having been laid out cold by this lone geek. That was just ridiculous. Because the geek had only brief mentions in the story I felt cheated by the plot. His character should have been depicted a little more in the novel. He wasn’t a ‘Mr Big,’ just another crazy inhabitant of a tiny southern town. Crazy but very sly and cunning.

The word I would use to describe Nauti Boy is ‘interesting.’

So there it is. Two reviews in one posting. A bargain really.

Breaking Loose by Tara Janzen

2009-09-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

This novel came out end of July 2009. Last Sunday I looked it up on am.com and it had 2 reviews. One of them was Harriet's. That tells you all you need to know about this book. So you could stop reading here and now.

However. I bought the novel only after the disappointment of Dangerous Passion. And after all I was a Steele Street fan. So there's no stopping me...

The question is. Why did the Crazy series stop and the Loose series begin? At first I thought it was because the publishers thought the Steele Street guys were getting too old. They were all settling down, getting married...at last count, Superman had 3 kids with Katya.

So a new generation of SDF had to be found. And they came along. Guys and gals. Nice enough. But all completely anonymous. I didn't really like the South American settings either.

So suddenly we got Loose and Easy, the Johnny Ramos story which was such a weird tale. What with it all taking place in one night. And in that night Esme and Johnny were supposed to fall in love forever! How could you have a Johnny Ramos story without a Skeeter appearance? Never mind the fact that every crazy character within 10 km of Denver did in fact manage to feature in the story. Including the local gangbangers (who turned out to be nice boys really...I personally have big objections to criminals being made out to be community leaders...though not from personal experience...just the idea of bullies running the neighbourhood makes me shudder.) Of course with all the characters that were pile-driven into the plot there was very little room for character development of the main couple or their relationship. But maybe that is just a style of writing. After all Creed and Cody's book could be said to be similar. Except that it wasn't because that was the story where Dylan first showed Skeeter his feelings about her. (So it could be said to be written in the Brockman style...another feature that was dropped with the Loose series.)

The point I am making is that Ramos was a character from the Steele Street series. So already the Loose series is backsliding. But at least Ramos was a young guy so at some level the polka-dot style of writing was understandable. And the JT thread made a reappearance.

So now we come to Breaking Loose. Featuring Suzi Toussi. Who is Superman's age, twice divorced but still supposedly hot. I have nothing against older heroines. But they fall in love in a different way to a 20 year old. That must be true. And an author has to portray that for a romance to work. Surely. It just doesn't happen here.

The main reason for reading this story is to follow the JT thread. And to see how it all pans out. I might join a fanfiction site and continue the series myself…featuring only the SDF crew. No Smith or Dax. I like Zach though. Probably not even Creed or Kid. I wasn’t much taken with their stories either. I liked Red Dog though. And Travis, her bitch. btw Whatever happened to Cheryl and Red Dog’s brother, Gabriel? I felt sure they were being set up for a story of their own.

There are quite a number of plots going on in this book.

Let’s see…

There is a tango sleeper cell in Texas. Erich Warner knows who they are and will give that information to the US government in exchange for a magical statue called the Memphis Sphinx.

Dax Killian is in Paraguay to get the Memphis Sphinx for Warner on behalf of one bunch of US government good guys.

Suzi Toussi is also in Paraguay to get the Memphis Sphinx for another bunch of US spies.

But. Another bunch of US spies actually sent the Memphis Sphinx to Paraguay to flush out a rogue US spy called Conroy Farrell.

Farrell wants to kill Erich Warner because Warner funds the development and manufacture of some very very nasty psychopharmological drugs…..

…the same drugs that were used on Dylan Hart and Farrell himself. And yes. Dylan Hart is in Paraguy, with the SDF team, with orders to kill Conroy Farrell….who is probably J T Chronopolous….GEEZ! That’s the guy Superman named his first born son for.

Actually. My first Steele Street novel was Dylan’s story, Crazy Love, which was publicized as Skeeter’s story. At the time I originally read the book I thought it was a bit ick that the first time Skeet and Dylan got down to business he was actually spaced out on those nasty psychopharmalogical drugs. But I suppose without those drugs he would never have made any moves on Skeeter. I thought it was also a bit weird how Dylan kept going on about the age difference between him and Skeeter when she was about 21 and he was about 33. I figure that she was maybe originally written younger and the publishers changed her age up.

Anyway. I never thought then that those drugs were an ongoing thread. Says a lot for Dylan’s head strength that he was able to work his way out of drug dependence. Without much character change other that he allowed himself to fall in love. Because everyone else who has had those drugs had become completely changed in a totally murderous manner….J.T and Shoko step forward.

Who would have thought the J.T thread would turn so dark? Who would have thought Dylan’s experiences with Dr Souk in Indonesia would have an ending in Paraguay. ‘The world is indeed a village’ as Hillary once said.

I have read so much dnf dross recently. Maybe that’s why the story captured my interest. Also I knew where all the threads were coming from. Because I have read every single book in the series! However in the end I refrained from getting too excited because I suspected the ending would probably disappoint.

Thinking about the plot. I have no idea why anyone with any brains would send Suzi Tousi into a situation like that. The problem with having a heroine like Suzi is that the publisher will say ‘Oh but we must have a young person in the story.’ And so a completely irrelevant teen character is introduced. And we get detail about her back story, her looks, her attitude….all of it completely irrelevant to the story. We get the waste of space called Scout. When really the reader might want more of Suzi and Dax developing a relationship. Or in my case, more of Dylan and the SDF crew.

There’s nothing wrong with Suzi. She’s just not that interesting. That’s mainly because she and Dax don’t have enough pages…in their own book! Skeeter and Dylan were all over Crazy Love. No way could Suzi be an agent. She falls apart on viewing a dead body. Her only strategy to get info from a guy is to dress like a cheap hooker.

If I had written this story. I’d leave out Ponce, Jimmy Ruiz, the shakedown cops…the author is often putting in too many people in her novels. I understand that South America is full of very strange people…I don’t necessarily want to read about them all in the one novel. All I know about Paraguay is that this is the country that scared Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell when they were filming Miami Vice. And how many countries are there that don’t worship Hollywood movie stars? It’s the sort of place where women with independent attitude probably get kidnapped off the street in broad daylight. Suzi Toussi wouldn’t last one single minute in that place really.

I actually enjoy the simplicity of romances. One guy, one girl. And mostly told from the girl’s point of view. None of that here. This novel is told from nearly every characters pov. My poor brain can’t hardly keep track. And of course. Not enough Suzi and Dax. I'd have liked to have known more about how the death of Suzi's little girl precipitated her into risking her life for strangers. Suzi did have an interesting back-story...it was just left untold...in favour of endless uninteresting insights into the minds of people who appeared for only about 2 pages. (That just reminded me of how much I enjoyed Zach’s incredibly implausible story.) And as always there is so much time wasting running around for nothing. The reader is told quite early on that Con has the Sphinx. So why waste whole chapters on Suzi and Dax finding out for themselves the Sphinx is no longer at Berenger’s. I hate it when denouement action has to unfold in one single end chapter leaving no room for thread tie-ups. And I still didn’t see why twice-divorced Suzi fell for never-before-married Dax. Without even asking him if he swings both ways. (See what I mean about how older women behave?)

As always recently. The plot goes round and round in circles. Suzi and Dax looking for the Sphinx. And I realise that the book is just running out of pages. There just isn’t enough room for Warner to get killed by Con, for Shoko to get off her pills, for Suzi to get the Sphinx, or for its magic to be demonstrated. The Texas tango thread has also disappeared. The paranormal thread just peters out. It should have been edited out. Nothing explains why Warner wants to own the Sphinx. (Nothing that makes sense anyway.)

It’s stupid to give up reading a 400-page book at page 300. But I felt seriously tempted. Nothing was happening. There was no progression. The main couple were still looking for the statuette same as they were on page 40. And they’d only kissed once.

Another thread from Steele Street is how much they were into their weapons. I loved all that. Totally absent from Breaking Loose of course. Suddenly no-one's worried about america being destroyed by terrorist groups anymore. Is that down to the passage of time or have all those lost lives really done some good?

Anyone who's managed to read through my rambling review might as well read the book itself. Just to show solidarity with a working author.

And you know what else. From what I read of JT, I didn't like him either.

Having done nothing but complain and reminisce I wish to state that I will be reading the next book. Basically any mention of Dylan, Superman et al will keep this poor sap tapping out the numbers on her debit card. Can't blame ol' Suzi for trying hard.

Dangerous Passion by LMR v2

2009-09-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Some things need to be said...

First. This book is a total scam. Despite the title no way is it part of the 'Dangerous' series. As far as I know, both Dangerous Secrets and Dangerous Lover were original stories. There is nothing original about Dangerous Passion. It was published previously under the title 'Secluded' in 2003 as part of the Red Sage 'Secrets' anthology. So it was written before Midnight Man which is the story it most closely resembles (particularly in length)....except that MM is the better story even.

What I liked about DL, DS and even Woman on the Run was that as well as all the hotness all 3 books contained a mulitiplicity of fantastic themes. Like...great driving skills. Like...transforming a dying small town. Like...the human cost of mineral mining in a completely different country. Also. In each of the above novels the females do something heroic. Julia agreed to testify against a mobster; Caroline gave up normal living in order to nurse her brother; Charity also gave up her hopes and ambitions to care for elderly relatives but still didn't hesitate to risk her life to
gain incriminating evidence against a delusional russian gangster. Even Suzanne in MM makes a stand against a criminal. All of the above named females showed they knew Right from Wrong.

There is none of that in DP. Grace does nothing for anyone. In fact she brings death to her elderly sponsor. I'm particularly annoyed about the hero. Why is he presented as Drake when his name is in fact Viktor? So basically this is the story of a gangster and his unthinking (but talented) moll. That is very different from 99% of LMR's other erotic novels. Why does 'nice' Grace give up living legally so easily? There are arms dealers who sometimes feature in newspapers. They claim they are respectable businessmen. None of them seem to go in fear of their lives like Viktor. So just what has he done that is so terrible? I'm with another reviewer who questioned why Grace so readily accepted Viktor's affirmation that he'd never dealt in drugs. And anyway. There's equally horrible trades to drugs and arms going on in the world.

This story was probably retitled and brought out purely to cash in on the author's growing popularity. Unfortunately going by Lara Adrian, Laurell K and JR, I don't suppose it'll affect sales. But I mourn the passing of a talent that was able to transform a lightweight genre into something outstandingly pleasureable to read.

I'd have liked to have realised what was being perpetrated before I paid out dollars. So in my public service capacity, I am letting everyone else know. I thank you.

Dangerous Passion by Lisa Marie Rice

2009-08-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Unlike the heroine, I am a fairly standard 21st century female. Not particularly beautiful..not particularly kind. But even ordinary me would have serious serious reservations about starting a relationship with a guy who I had witnessed snaping the necks of 4 males. No matter how much cash the guy could command. But then again, I live in the real world.

The story is ok. But it cannot be compared to the 'masterworks' that are Dangerous Lover, Dangerous Secrets or even Woman on the Run.

The simple reason is the length of this novel. It seems incredibly short. Little more than an erotic e-novel. Where neither the situation nor the characters are much developed. And how weird is it that Viktor chooses the name Victoria for Grace. Where did Grace's crazy dream come from? I think an editor left half the story on the publisher's floor.

The novel is also full of Russkies. Whose fascination seems to have passed me by. Viktor is one those 'bad guys' who seems to leave a lot of traitors alive. Both Shota and Andrew should have been dealt with harshly. There is quite a good voyeurism scene though.

Grace doesn't really seem to have a mind of her own. Other than 'Yes Victor', 'Thank you Victor.' She is very different from the other 'Dangerous' heroines. Julia bravely agreed to testify against a mob boss, Caroline nursed her brother for many years and Charity bravely chose to put herself in harms way to bring a mike into her admirers mansion. Grace is just a pale shadow compared to the aforementioned marvellous females.

I can't believe I waited 6 months for the book to be published. What's more. The net buzz is that it is basically a rewrite of a previously published work. So why couldn't it have been longer?

tbh it's hardly worth the effort of reading. I can't believe neither Grace nor Victor won't expire of boredom in their tropical paradise after a few years.

A short indifferent review is all this book deserves ...from everyone.

Taking Chloe by Anne Rainey

2009-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

What was missing from Savas's Defiant Mistress is present in this story in spades. Yes, I'm talking hot hot hotness.

Unusually, I suppose, the hotness has a purpose in the novel. Presumably to show how much the married main couple really trust and love each other. What also comes across is the enormous amount of respect they have for each other. But Merrick was taking Chloe's respect for granted. So whenever Chloe says to Merrick, "I love you but I don't want to go back to living with you just yet" all the readers know it is only a matter of time before she does.

Actually I applaud Chloe for holding out for as long as she did. Even though it got on my nerves a little, seeing how she gave Merrick everything else...including her ass. It's like she was saying, "Yes, we have great sex but....our marriage problems are about more than that." God bless her. She sticks to her principles until she sees Merrick making some changes in his workaholic lifestyle. Yes, she listens sympathetically both when he explains the reason for his driven workstyle and his promises to change. But she waits until she witnesses that change before she goes back to living with him. And even then she persuades him to attend marriage counselling with her. In so many ways Chloe is such a sensible person who knows exactly what was going wrong in her work/life relationship with Merrick and is going to do her sensible utmost to see that it doesn't happen again. I loved the mix of eroticism and total grounding in the story.

Merrick does everything Chloe wants of him. He even shares his Business with her. What does he gain. Well. He misses out on the serial marriages of many successful guys...he gets to stick with the woman who he's happy to admit he loves forever. And of course he gets a family of his own even though he's quite nervous about having babies. We're talking beautiful planned pregnancy in this book. Rarer than snow in July when it comes to erotics and especially series romances.

Words fail to describe how unsordid the hotness truely is. The hero's little quirk in this story is that he likes to gaze at his wife's genitals and admire their beauty. Isn't that lovely? Everything else I've read many times before. Chloe is never in any sexual peril from anyone in the whole novel. Isn't that the function of a caveman? To protect his woman from unwanted advances. Merrick is completely able to fulfill that role. I loved how he was attracted to Chloe from the first time he met her...and knew she would come to mean a lot to him.

Chloe and Merrick are a lot more straightforward than Neely and Sebastian from SDM. But their romance is way more satisfactory. Mind you. I should tell Chloe and Merrick that the most uptodate response to making out in public is not "Get A Room!" but "How much would you like me to pay so I can stay and watch the show?" (I got the impression that despite their little effort both Merrick and Chloe would be totally scandalized by such a reaction. tee hee)

At only 72 pages, a great 2 night read.

A word of advice about the epilogue. Do Not Bother. It is horrendous. All the reader needs to know is that Chloe is going to have Merricks baby and they are both very very happy together.

The remainder of the epilogue is pure set up for the romances of the secondary characters in the story. The trouble is the reader is supposed to care about people who are given no character build up whatsoever. Grace, Nick, Jackson....isn't a bit weird how all the workers in Merricks Company fall for one another?

I am going to read Candy's story though.

Final conclusion for anyone who has any doubts...................................................................................

Good. Good. Good. Hot. Hot.Hot. Hot. Excellent. Excellent. Very fine. A+

......happily another crime free novel.

Deception by Sharon Cullen

2009-07-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

From the same author that brought us Obsession.

Well. I enjoyed this novel. But, boy, does the heroine suffer.

First. Her live-in boyfriend of one year just vanishes off the face of the earth. That's the hero by the way. He's a secret agent and he returns to her about 18-months later because he gets into trouble and remembers that he loved her. It doen't change the fact that Kate was living with a guy who lied to her on a daily basis for over a years. Kate goes through emotional agonies when Luke disappears. Lots of people telling her he's an adult and maybe he just wanted out of the relationship.

Next. Completely unconnected. Kate is driving the car which is hit by another vehicle. And Kate's passenger, who is her heavily pregnant sister-in-law, dies! Of course, Kate suffers more agonies of guilt. With the result that she completely changes her lifestyle and appearance, apparently. She quits being a successful artist and becomes, like, a punkish barkeep! However I thought that her relationship with her brother was somewhat unbelievable considering what he lost. But he's probably being set up for a sequel. It had better be a minimum of 5 years in the future. That is the appropriate length of time to mourn the death of someone who you swore, before God, to "love, honor and obey for as long as you are alive."

The book is about how Luke returns to Kate and has to convince her that he loved her despite the lies and the fact that his spy boss is gunning for him because he saw something he shouldn't have. tbh Luke doesn't have to work very hard to win Kate back. Particularly once she's seen his spectacular houseboat in Tennessee. Because, yes, Luke is one of those spys with lots of money.

And finally. In the denouement. Kate takes a shot to the gut for Luke. And has to recover from serious surgery. Surgery that will probably affect her for many years to come. Of course he asks her to marry him. Jeez! What else could he do without looking like a total heel?

Why did the author do that to the heroine? Was it because she was safe in the homeland while Luke was being tortured in South America? In the book there is no description of Luke's torture. So the reader basically has to take his word about the beatings. Except that Luke's experiences hardly seem to affect him at all. Apart from anger that he was betrayed into the situation by his boss. So Kate seems to have had all the trauma and not Luke.

The spy story that Luke and Kate get involved in is pretty fantastical in all honesty. But that is the legacy of Ms Plame coming into the romance market. I found it quite entertaining even though it reaches deep into the beltway.

So after all. I enjoyed this novel....but not as good as Obsession. (Because Obsession is a lot more personal than Deception.)

Savas's Defiant Mistress by Anne McAllister.

2009-07-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

The title is completely misleading. The novel is 100% american. And the heroine, Neely, doesn't become the hero's girlfriend until Chapter 8 of a 10 chapter book.

This is a fantastic fantastic story...if you like romances about high-income good-looking main couples. The plot is excellent. There is no criminal activity whatsoever. No blood-sucking, murder, stalking or thieving. That makes a nice change. Also missing is the hotness. I was going to say that does not matter but that would not be the truth. Especially missing is the language that goes with the hotness. I actually enjoy reading that. But all that is missing from this novel. Just because the main couple are middle class doesn't mean they can't talk dirty about bump and grind.

The spice in the story comes entirely from the two times the hero, Sebastian, turns into a Complete Asshole. The first time is in Chapter 7. Brother! He is such a bastard to the heroine, Neely. He makes an accusation that comes entirely from his own sexism and professional prejudice. The only reason he gets away with it is because Neely puts him right straight away and he immediately apologises in a believable way. The second time is in Chapter 9 when he tells Neely that the condition for continuing their relationship is that she never works for his father. Believing that she betrays him if she even talks his dad. I just totally applaud Neely for the way she dealt with both situations. Sebastian is a very complicated character indeed. I can't make up my mind whether he actually likes all his shirt-tail relations at all or whether he is just determined to be as unlike his father as possible.

Sebastian has a couple of scenes of profound depression. The first when he's lying in the dark when Neely plays the violin. And then it was Completely Wrong how he was marginalised at his sister's wedding. Neely was right. Sebastian should have walked Vangie up the aisle. That was the most fitting way his family could have thanked him for all he'd done for them. I wanted to cry for Sebastian as I read that scene. Real high income extended families don't care a fig about normality. The clever author though immediately turned Sebastian into the bad guy when he resented his Dad making some moves on Neely during the wedding despite her going to so much trouble to communicate verbally and through her body language that she was 100% loyal to him alone.

I'm giving the impression that Neely doesn't have an interesting back story. She does. But she understands it better than Sebastian does his. And she had some happiness when her mom married John. Sebastian was always on the outside. Sebastian returns to Neely because he feels lonely without her. I also wanted him to realise that it was his relationship with Neely that would stop him turning into a carbon copy of his serial womanising father.

What I didn't really understand is how come Neely had so much less money than Sebastian. She is an award winning architect! Surely she could have afforded to buy the houseboat. Also. Is Neely really going to marry a guy who himself says that he is proud to be a carbon copy of her workaholic Dad? That is a conversation she should have had with herself...definitely. A bit less Lara and Max...a little more of Neely dealing with some insecurities would have been lovely. Although I think Sebastian will commit to his children.

The writing is very good. (Yes, its a series romance so it does have the usual quota of ickness...like Neely giving out mixed messages about her relationships with the older men in the story...like Sebastian not asking about what the other tenant in the houseboat was like...like Neely secretly going to work for her long-lost dead-beat Dad...and please...she ditches Sebastian and moves into his Dad's house. What kind of behaviour is that??? In a way. This story should have been about Neely. So really, unlike other reviewers I didn't think she was 'too sweet' at all. Plus. Let's face it, the way she off-loaded her pets onto people she hardly knew at all was pretty ruthless. To say nothing of the fact that she must have known Max had kicked Sebastian off the Carmody project because he wanted to promote his daughter's skills on a touchstone design commission. btw Sebastian is a millionaire in all but name. Happily though, no secret baby.) I'm putting it on my recommended list where it will stay unless I read it a few more times and decide the HEA is too fragile.

I bought it as an e-book from the Harlequin website. It downloaded in about 3 seconds flat. I was at first very suspicious of the speed but everything worked lovely. You need adobe digital editions though.

p.s. I haven't deserted print. I've got a big package on the way. Can't wait!

Under Cover of Night by Charlene Roberts

2009-07-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

I nearly died laughing early on in this e-novel. Undercover RCMP Lieutenant Emma Parris is meeting the gofer of an international jewel fence. She decides to use her real name because " it kept the lies down to a minimum and made things a lot less complicated." Actually. It might also completely blow her cover if the guy, Gerard, has any kind of search connections which is highly likely. Still I'm happy to be on familiar ground where the world is a completely safe place even for TSTL cop heroines so obviously in heat.

The story is set in France. Unfortunately not Paris but some tiny hick village. Why does a guy with 'big hands' and presumably more than enough cash, drive a tiny BMW Mini? They are gross. Only short short people can use them with any kind of comfort. The hero's vehicle of choice only reinforces the fact that he is not alpha-male material. However he is totally lovely all-in-all. Also. I had to keep checking Mr Butler's bio on IMDB. Just in case this story really was written by one of his legion of fan-girlies. That would just be too cringe-inducing for me to continue reading.

The heroine, Emma, from the get-go decides to try for a 'more personal relationship' with Gerard. So on their first date he pushes her dress up to her waist. Then she pulls it off over her head. But then...then she worries about doing the business with a criminal. (Please go figure) Happily those qualms don't last long and the next minute she's nicely enjoying herself. (Him too.)

I actually found the plot quite exciting. The pacing is excellent. Especially once it is revealed that Gerard knows exactly who he is dealing with in Emma and he turns out to be not what he is supposed to be. It's a pleasure to read of a guy who is not the least bit put out by a heroine who he admits can 'outfuck him.'

Sometimes it got a bit confusing as to when Emma was the undercover cop and when Emma was the masked jewel thief.

Other than that this e-book is great fun...it might even be called an enjoyable romp. The main couple are totally at ease with one another. And at ease with who they are despite both of them having challenging back stories. I loved their joie-de-vivre. Even when Gerry is asked to do something nasty to Emma, he tells her all about it ...after a little persuasion. I snorted at Gerry thinking he served in Afghanistan to 'help people.' (There's many explanations of the Nato presence...but 'helping people' is just simplistic. Let's hope they all come back safe like Gerry though.)

Lots of energetic normal bump and grind. tbh there are no surprises. And all problems are solved in the blink of an eye. No-one is in the slightest bit ruthless or psychotic. But I do wonder how those two will keep their relationship going. Part-time MI6...my left foot! Female inspectors in Interpol?! Never come across that before.

The cover is just slightly misleading in a 1970s Harlequin sort of way. Read the description of Emma and you'll see what I mean. Why do publishers still do that sort of thing?

Beauty Tempts The Beast by Leslie Dicken.

2009-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Divine was a poor abused fairly good-looking girl tempted into a night of lust by a rich englishman. If you believe that then you will enjoy this e-novel which at its heart is incredibly sordid and features a hero who for some reason needs only the most spurious excuse to victimise himself continuously for a number of years.

Ok. So Charles, the virgin, because he's getting married soon to a beautiful girl decides to get some practise in with his best-friend's chosen hooker. Fine. That is his decision to risk getting a dose of syphilis to pass onto his intended. However. He has one night with the hooker. Then the hooker slashes his face...and gets murdered. For some reason Charles thinks he did the deed and takes the hooker's baby to secretly raise it as his own!! And he gets incredibly possessive about the kid when in fact the little boy's rightful father would actually like to love the child...in his own particular way!! That is way too weird.

If ever a guy chose the wrong 2 best friends it has to be Charles. One is a sadist and the other commits murder because he is secretly in love with Charles. And Charles has absolutely no idea what is going on! He lets his home turn into a hovel...and basically vegetates in misery for the next seven years. (Lovely for the little boy I'm sure.) That guy is as dumb as a post!

I thought everyone in the story was more interesting than Charles...he is such a sap. Vivian basically has to give him some amateur psychoanalysis before he can understand what is going on...but it took her about 2 mins to sumise the true situation. I have to say. It was not very nice of Charles, to kick Martin off the cliff to his death. However then of course, there is no-one to claim Harry for his own. Unfortunately Charles now really is a murderer. (though I'm sure he's not capable of realising this.)

Vivian is just incidental...just the catalyst for the three stooges, Charles, Martin and John to work through their poisonous relationship. But who wins out in the end? The titled toff of course. Even though he's a few fries short of a happy meal. Pshaw! And what will happen when Harry is a few years older and he asks 'Who is my real Dad and what happened to him.' Don't try to tell me that Ashworth will make him his heir over any son he has with Vivian. That is unbelievable.

But what I say to Vivian and her mom is this. Trade, trade, trade. Don't believe the history books. Trade was always an option in those times. Just a lot of very hard work. But some people prefer an easy life...which was probably why the mom stayed with her violent gay husband.

A word about Martin. Yes. He's a repulsive slimeball. But what exactly does he do that's criminal? Vivian seems to have submitted to his disgusting attentions more than once. She should have run away a little sooner to successfully play the violated heroine. She wants Ashworth to solve the problem of Martin for her...but then gets cold feet..sort of. Nowadays women can get jailed for how Viv got Charles to kill Martin.

I laughed at Catherine and her bewilderment at Ashworth's attraction to Vivian. (It's called "youth" dearie.)

This novel features plenty of anger driven violence and general disrespect. And some bump and grind from the bad guy. But only minimal foreplay between the main couple. Mary obviously taught Charles a lot in that one night. More hotness between Vivian and Charles might have put all the lip-curling soullessness of the other relationships more into the background. At around 140 pages this story is much too long for what it is. It is also a bit retro in its portrayal of gay men all being nasty.

A very weird and miserable read that did absolutely nothing for the quality of my life. But it's quite interesting in a cold fish eye sort of way.

Terms of Surrender by Becky Barker

2009-07-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

A very short and excellent e-romance. It is only 32 pages long but the author still was able to produce totally acceptable hotness and charactisation of the main couple. That takes some skill indeed.

Basically this is a reconciliation story. Cassie ditched Brody to earn a living as a rodeo rider. Two years later she's lonely and wants a home and family...with Brody. He of course is understandably bitter and will only take her back if she's totally subservient to him. Happily for Cassie, Brody is a thoroughly decent human being who she basically knows she can twist around her little finger. He isn't really cruel or hurtful to her in any way...even while he's angry about her behaviour. What Cassie doesn't tell Brody is that she's obviously made a pile of money from being on the circuit. After all. She buys the ranch next door to Brody's. (The little minx)

I like how Cassie is described as being free-spirited and beautiful. She acknowledges she made a mistake in leaving Brody and is prepared to grovel for a while. But Brody should also have apologised for being pig-headed when he didn't ask Cassie to marry him 2 years ago. In actual fact Cassie did nothing wrong. She obviously is a very talented and skilled rider. She made her fortune doing what she does best and decided to return home to marry her first love. How many times have I read (and enjoyed) romances where the male hero does just that??

Lovely sweet story without being in the slightest bit cute or cheesey.

p.s. I think e-romances are turning me into some kind of addict. They are so easy to buy and read. I'm not even reviewing all those I buy...just buy another if I don't like one.

p.p.s. I have also joined the re-reading gang. I have re-read (with total glee) Cold As Ice and Kiss of Midnight. I am totally bowled over by the complete political incorrectness and sky-high ick factor in both novels. Maybe that's what makes for obsessional love of a particular novel. Do you know. I actually spent a portion of yesterday trawling the net for 'news of zsadist and bella;' 'news of peter and genevieve.' I haven't yet got to the stage of 'news of superman and kat;' or 'news of dylan and skeeter;' but could easily do so with very little encouragement. I hereby state. I am totally at ease with my life at the moment. (Just absolutely aching for publication of Dangerous Passion though...august 4th....august 4th.)

Plagued by K.Z. Snow

2009-07-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Another excellent well-written e-romance with a lot of hot eroticism, particularly in the first half of the story. This is one of the few vampire novels where the hero and heroine end up a nice ordinary middle class couple. Because the hero loses his vampiric characteristics when he kills the evil vampire.

Being the sort of person I am, I really appreciated the descriptions of the Black Death and how it was utilised by Europe's Vampires. I didn't really understand all the Vampire tribe variations but that is completely irrelevant. The only scenes that I thought were a bit silly were the gay scenes between Jackson and Adin. They seemed out of place in the quite intense relationship between the main couple.

The heroine actually has friends, is unashamedly in the habit of having one night stands and doesn't seem to mind being pierced by 'the nail' for her blood. The hero is not fantastically rich...he earns a living as a translator..oh and he was originally born a jew. I have no idea why that fact was included in the story. Actually. I thought they were a very attractive couple.

Dear Sir I'm Yours by Joely Sue Burkhart

2009-07-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

All this well-written e-book is, is a total tease that goes absolutely nowhere. It’s like the author knows she has chosen a somewhat dubious subject-matter but doesn’t want to be controversial.

It doesn’t help that the heroine, Rae, in chapter 14, as good as admits she let her abusive husband hurt her because she hated him and felt guilty about it. That’s the definition of a doormat surely.

And throughout the whole of the previous 13 chapters the hero, Conn, goes on and on about how he will do nothing to Rae without her knowing consent. And he doesn’t. Even by page 110 of a 170 page e-novel these two haven’t consummated their relationship. So what’s the point of the novel? To make up for the fact that he is aware he behaved inappropriately by giving her a spanking while she was his college student? Jeez. Give me a break! Suddenly I felt like saying. ‘Get on with it you two!’ No crime was committed. There’s such a thing as overcompensation. Plus. To be brutally honest. Conn groomed Rae in college and then he gets his granny to pay her 40 grand a year to be a ‘Property Manager.’ Hur hur. When basically he’s just treated Rae like she could be bought like some hooker. (or slave)...and he didn't get her consent for that either. So the only difference between Conn and Dick is that Conn is a very effective control freak whilst Dick was useless. And maybe both are what Rae likes.

The reader is treated to endless reminiscing from Conn about his Daddy, his brother, his sister. Miss Belle verges on the border of being voyeuristic. One salacious scene is constantly referred to but never actually depicted. This book reminds me of the fuss about Lady Chatterly’s Lover. Very controversial but when you read it, it’s B.O.R.I.N.G.

I was going to write a good review of this story. And then I got to Chapter 14, realised the main couple still hadn’t got down to it so I stopped reading. I felt I’d been hoodwinked into reading vanilla cack.

The cover is better than the story. Sniff.

p.s. I am of course being slightly unfair. It's a very good story with a nice happy ending. Lots of teasing sensuous scenes before at long last the main couple get down to it. Personally I really didn't understand the tying of the silk rope. I just really expected the novel to be something else entirely.

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

2009-07-03T04:46:00.000-07:00

These were the reasons why I hardly started this historical romance...let alone finished it.

1. Actually I don't really like the name 'Ian' for a romance hero.

2. Red haired guys do nothing for me.

3. Too many big shouting brothers too early on in the novel...so obviously being set up for sequels.

4. The sheer fantastical coincidence that Beth goes to Paris to paint and meets another Mackenzie brother.

5. Beth gets emotional about opera.

...and generally the whole noise and presence of what seemed like enormous numbers of characters made the novel seem more like a version of the rumbustious Pickwick Papers than an emotionally involving romance.

...but that's just my opinion.

Remember. I am not a professional reviewer. No way would I finish a book I don't like. No matter how good the reviews are. That's school stuff.

Obsession by Sharon Cullen.

2009-06-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

A really interesting and enjoyable 138-page e-romance which I will probably buy when it comes out in print. Much better than many series romances because I do not like 'secret baby' stories. The writer plays a really sly trick on the readers and I happily fell for it hook line and sinker. I just thought Tessa was another TSTL romance heroine when she didn't recognise the attempted rapist as her brother-in-law. But what do I know!

The story is about the reconciliation of husband and wife, Alex and Tessa. No other people involved. Just some heartache and job pressures. Initially Alex came across as an unfriendly sulker but once he learned that Tess had not divorced him, he did seem to calm down and become a whole lot less defensive.

Tess can say what she liked about how they didn't discuss their baby's death but when she was nearly raped, Alex gave her what she seemed to need. Which was silent time to get over what happened without him putting the moves on her until she was ready. I really liked that. No 'You've nearly been raped now lets have a threesome.' Which is what happens in so many other so-called erotics. This story is not an erotic. So yes. It is just a little 'woman's fictionish.' Particularly the scene where Tessa doesn't mind that her sister has named her newest baby after Tessa's dead daughter. Shannon was just a total bitch for doing that. But at the heart of the novel is the romance between Alex and Tessa and that's what I enjoyed reading.

The epilogue was also a little too cute for me to totally appreciate. It seemed that Alex got himself into pretty much the same situation as what drove Roger to deal. i.e. Lots of kids and only one income. Not that Alex would ever do anything illegal or even immoral. He didn't seem at all like the kind of cop to cut corners. And that's a nice change too. The other thing was. Ok. Alex is probably an hispanic in name only and maybe he doesn't speak spanish at all. But really. He could have given just one of his kids an hispanic name...just to carry on his traditions..not just Tessa's.

The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter

2009-06-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

The problem with this novel is that the main couple despite her being about 25 and him being in his early thirties, both read like they are each about 105 years old. They are so full of regrets its unbelievable. The heroine seemed to be pursing a vengeance on behalf of her dead father. Why? Live your own life dear. And the names; Pedro, Gaspar...very strange.

Whenever the main couple met I couldn't detect the slightest spark of emotional feeling between them. I struggled to maintain an interest for 2 chapters and then gave up.

dnf

McAlistairs Fortune by Alissa Johnson

2009-06-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

The sequel to 'Tempting Fate.'

I got to about page 273. And I put the book in my bag knowing full well I probably wouldn't be finishing it.

The story is basically killed stone-dead by its well-intentioned pc-ness. The heroine is a cripple with a facial scar. So under no circumstances is the hero allowed to be mean to her. Except that making her ride for two days did actually cause her a great deal of unnecessary pain. (And that was down to the author) I had no idea who Mary Summers was, or Christian or Mr Fortune...other than they had appeared in previous novels or were being prepared for sequels. And because of that we have absolutely no written characterisation of these people...they are just there.

But what finally killed the novel for me was the ludicrous scenario of these 5 people living in a big house with no servants....and none of them can cook. So instead of all helping each other, they split up cooking duties one by one. The sheer monotony of each person's attempt at preparing a meal just alienated me from the story. How did they manage bathing? Or washing clothes? Or emptying chamber pots? I could see how the scenes would work on tv. Very funny. But on the written page it just seemed pointless. Even the main couple didn't help each other out in the kitchen! What was the purpose of the cooking scenes. There was absolutely no character development between anyone. Just to pad the story while waiting around for the bad guy to make an appearance? Most probably.

I lost interest completely...

dnf...but probably will one day when I'm too infirm to leave my bed.

The Real Deal by Lucy Monroe

2009-06-20T13:18:00.001-07:00

Buying this book was a terrible mistake for me. All the reviews I read of it seemed to imply that the story was a contemporary romance between Amanda and Simon. But in fact there is a third person involved in the whole novel; Lance. Who is married to Amanda at the beginning of the novel. So there you have it. The heroine. Married to one guy at the start. 'In love 4evah' with another by the end. I think that's a version of hot-bedding and an object lesson in why guys and gals should pay regular visits to a clap-clinic. (I don't actually know if Amanda's gyno puts in an appearance.) And of course. Its All Lance's Fault. The swine. He likes threesomes. So Amanda must be the wronged party, mustn't she? But the first time we meet Amanda she's committing violence on her husband's possessions..so maybe the breakup was just inevitable. That's why 'no fault' divorce was invented..although from the words I read this story seemed to say that the husband was to blame.

Sorry. Women's fiction and chick lit. Where guys are always in the wrong...I don't read them.

...actually. I only read 2 pages. Which is a record even for me.

...dnf.

Called by Blood and Bound by Blood by Evie Byrne

2009-06-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Why would anyone read these very short erotic novellas?

1. For a contemporary urban vampire fix. Gregor and Alex are happy unashamed blood-suckers who will co-opt any male or female as their food supply.

2. The bump and grind. Totally good.

I quite liked the mom too. The heroines are both incredibly easy. The heroes hardly have to bother with even the slightest courtship. They basically just turn up and do. What evens out the score is that both the heroines are fairly standard modern females in that they let they guy in with minimum fuss and then proceed to give him a hard time. Helena in particular really puts Alex through the grinder.

The one with Gregor and Maddy is the better of the two. Mainly because they have some difficulties to overcome. Although in some ways its a bit far-fetched to imagine a female with a battery pack dressed in a basque and deep-throating. Helena is a cop's worst nightmare. She calls to report a stalker, then has a relationship with said stalker. You can bet she wouldn't hesitate for one second to sue the cops if the stalker turned out to be nasty. That's why I dislike heroes or heroines who work in show-biz. They are total users and ball-breakers. Even government funded show-biz.

I hope Misha's girl is an assertive fellow-vampire who doesn't just lay down and open. But I doubt it.

Friday Night Mistress by Jan Colley

2009-06-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Nick sees Jordan every Friday night for some bump and grind. Neither is involved with anyone else. Unfortunately their respective families are on different sides in a libel case and have a history of hating one another.

I should have enjoyed this story.

But.

Nick's younger brother Adam, who is presented as an amiable playboy makes a joke to Nick's beautiful secretary, Jasmine. He suggests that carnal relations should be added to her job description...in front of Nick. Is that funny? Or is that generic harassment? If he wants to go out with Jasmine, just ask her and be prepared to accept 'No' as an answer.

More importantly. Essentially. Both Jordan and Nick, grown-up adult people, allow their respective fathers to control their lives....including their sex lives. The novel actually features a controlling Dad who has a heart attack, so his daughter Jordan changes her behaviour to Nick. That so reminds me of all those appalling 1980s romances where the heroine was basically pimped out by her family. But this is set in New Zealand...a very small island. Maybe the younger generation down there don't understand the concept of self-determination. That's why I gave up reading series romances. And discovered the independent hard-working heroines in JAK novels.

Ugh..my flesh crawls...dnf on principle

Hidden Honor by Anne Stuart

2009-06-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Is it too much to ask that a Stuart couple are actually shown to have a HEA with nice house and kiddies playing in the garden? Probably.

Oh well. Lovely lovely story. Basically a medieval road-movie with a couple of chapters of intense loving bookended by lashings of stolen kisses and smouldering looks.

I will hear no criticism of Elizabeth. After all, she is just 17 yo and likes to give some attitude. So what she has a number of TSTL moments. She’s allowed them. The story features another divine ‘Peter.’ Why does he fall for Elizabeth? Because she’s tall, beautiful, has lovely red hair, helps deliver children, and can run a large house. Nuff said. But if ever a heroine had a m.v. it is Elizabeth. (She on the other hand has absolutely no idea of her own appeal.) I mean, Peter has been a penitentiary monk for seven years, but he's just entranced by Elizabeth from day one. Too much is written about Elizabeth's lack of looks mainly because the reader sees her through Peter's eyes and to him she is always beautiful. I really enjoyed reading her feelings of confusion, awe and pain as she fell in love for the first time. Assertive ladies beware though. I don't think Elizabeth ever helps Peter throughout the whole story although he saves her life a number of times. (On the other hand she doesn't place herself in unnecessary danger either.) And as far as Peter is concerned, Elizabeth is so easy.

There’s a secondary couple. Presumably because in 2004 every romance had to have more than the main couple. Adrian and Joanna were ok, except that sometimes Adrian spoke with the same voice as Peter, and actually they both seemed to have a better HEA than Peter and Elizabeth. Peter had given all his estates to the church. So where would he and Elizabeth make their home? How did Peter get away with killing the King’s son? He’s a very very lucky man.

I recognised that Peter was the good-guy right away. But that didn’t spoil the enjoyment one iota. I kept asking myself, ‘So when’s Elizabeth going to find out the truth?’ The poor dear.

A very simple plot about a knight-monk pretending to be a degenerate prince while the evil handsome prince pretends to be a simple monk. And they're all going on a journey to a shrine so the prince can confess his sins and be forgiven. On the way the group pick up a maiden travelling to join a convent and 'a professional mistress.' Unfortunately the monk and the prince have a history and some mayhem ensues. A reader could imagine forever what William truely would like his relationship with Peter de Montselm to have been...even back in their Crusade days.

All the protagonists are single with no romantic bagagge. And that is probably why I liked it...a lot.

Beauty and the Spy by Julie Ann Long

2009-06-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

This story is well written and a skill with words dragged me from chapter to chapter. But often I thought to myself, “I hate this novel…it is not a romance…more a ‘make-do’ kind of thing between the main couple.” A kind of cold-hearted courtship despite the kisses.

The fundamental problem is the characters of the main couple and their relationship with one another. When the heroine, Susannah, had money she came across as a selfish stuck-up bitch, who believed herself in love with the nobleman she was engaged to. Early on in the story, she becomes penniless…and is promptly jilted by her fiancé. Who then turns up later in the story to offer her a place as his mistress. Although Susannah rejects his insulting offer, she seems happy enough to fulfil the same role for the hero. In fact the whole novel is too full of kept mistresses who come to sad or sordid ends. As much through desperation as anything.

About two-thirds of the way through the book the hero, Kit, himself admits that a carnal relationship with Susannah would be nothing more than a ‘delightful interlude.’ Is that because he knows that not only is she destitute, but she’s also illegitimate. Obviously in the end he admits he loves her and marries her…but that’s too late to make a good romance. Also. When Kit isn’t hankering after his first love Caro, he’s fixated on returning to his liaison with the married countess.

Susannah meanwhile just drifts into ‘loving’ the nearest nobleman. And as the writer says. The way Susannah still clings to wearing her clothes in the style she used to when she was wealthy is frankly, a bit sad. Who was washing all her lovely dresses?

I kept reading for a while because I was somewhat interested as to how Morley would be revealed to be the traitor he was. Because there’s an issue in politics today about elected officials being happy to give state secrets to groups dedicated to destroying the freedoms of the western way of life.

Actually I stopped reading when the main couple go at it for the first time. The heroine was too desperate to find someone with money and the guy should have had a higher moral code than to take advantage of a vulnerable young woman who more than anything seemed on the verge of depression.

But this is written by a successful author so I’m probably in a minority.

dnf surprisingly

Always a Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch

2009-06-07T12:56:00.001-07:00

I'm not saying I won't one day finish this. Because I'm sure it's a very good story.

But.

The heroine is basically 'sold' into an arranged marriage with a corrupt degenerate because her younger brother has built up enormous gambling debts. And she doesn't hate her brother's stupid guts??!! And she doesn't despise her parents for accepting the guys disgusting proposal??

That should be the story of this novel. Not. Oh, actually she ends up marrying the slightly less degenerate hero who's really a good sort of guy at heart. I'm sure they'll be very happy ever after.

Vexing the Viscount by Emily Bryan.

2009-06-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Big Disappointment in this story is that there is no treasure. I repeat. No Treasure. If there had been the story would have been truely sublime. (Sigh)

Apart from that major misjudgement by the author this book is lovely. It features a Miss with Money who plots her hardest to get the man she was friends with when they were children to fall in love with her. And it works really well. Lots of lovely steam. I really liked the hero. Despite being practically broke he refuses to marry the heiress his father has searched out for him. (Who is not the heroine I hasten to add.)

The title makes the book seem really lightweight but I thought some serious issues appear in the story. Like the issue of being a traitor to the Crown. Like the issue of what good Lucien could do for his estates if he had found the treasure. Like the issue of being a slave in Roman times. Like how Lucian saves Daisy's life when his own father tries to shoot her dead! That's how much he loves her. Also the story is set in times when people wore wigs and the guys 'showed a leg' as a courtesy. So the cover is a load of old hokum again.

The story features some characters from previous novels which I had not read. And I couldn't really work out if Lady Wexford was one of those characters.

Seraphim by Shelby Reed

2009-06-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

I kept reading in the hope it would get better. But it never did. The plot just goes nowhere for ages. Gia, the heroine, basically trades her body for material comfort every chance she gets and closes her eyes to her husband being a career criminal. But more than that. She’s a woman who has relations with her husband because he wants to and she just mentally opts out of the experience. But oh, there’s nothing wrong with her marriage; after all her husband gives her little gifts all the time. Of course the hero is the guy that can actually make her feel emotions during the act. She wants to have her cake and eat it, so to speak. Fine. That’s her life. There’s nothing romantic or erotic about it. It’s basically sordid. Jesus said….Yes. But Jesus gave his life for humanity. Gia sacrifices nothing. She justifies her tawdry compromises with ‘..but I was born poor.’ Which is no justification at all. Did I say Gia is also 100% TSTL…all the time?

The story, such as it is, is nothing original. ‘Special’ person chosen and trained to fight evil. Actually I love that theme. But this version was just….crap. Recently I’ve watched a number of movies in which I so wanted the ‘hero’ to just Die…Hot Fuzz (whoever heard of a slasher movie with an HEA!!), Wanted (in which the hero is fooled into killing his own father by a wealthy cult but of course he decides to stay with them because....they gave him his self-respect??!!!), Terminator:Salvation (why did all those people sacrifice themselves for the charisma-free John Connor??). And reading this novel I felt the same. “Please, Gia. Die in vain and do Not be resurrected.” But I don’t think that happened.

I got to page 71 and checked out due to utter boredom and disinterest.

dnf

Smoke and Mirrors by Natasha Moore

2009-05-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

...a guilty pleasure 88-page e-book.

What I liked most about this is the memories the main couple have about their times together when they were first young lovers. No idea why EC put book in the their 'Taboo' niche.

I almost accepted Alex's reason for leaving Gabrielle but was surprised that she didn't seem to have moved on emotionally. But this is what a poor guy has to do in order to marry the rich man's daughter....work hard and grab every chance he can get.... Ten years isn't that long to make it as a magician in showbusiness imo. Some people work all their lives and never get to make it really big.

I thought Alex was quite honorable despite his behaviour with Gabrielle all those years ago. Although some honesty from him at the time would have helped the situation. But let's not forget that the story is set around show-business so normal codes of behaviour don't really apply.

Quite a joyful little novel really. Both the main couple essentially ready to give their relationship another try without harboring too many resentments. I loved the fact that Gabrielle's first job was being a magicians assistant...and then she settled for marketing. Ha!

The story is well written but the plot makes no sense. Either Robert Winslow despises Alex or he doesn't. What actually happens is that he seems to change his mind half way through the novel.

...and yes, some might say this story is very hot...takes about an hour to read through.

Expecting Dangerous Passion

2009-05-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

...of course I've immediately returned to my copy of Dangerous Lover to find out where 'Drake' appeared. Basically he was the bad guy, Deaver's, supplier of various stuff he needed. Read about him mainly on page 195 to 203.

I'd also sorta forgotten just how steaming hot Dangerous Lover was. Totally fantastic. And how raw the language used by Deaver and Sanders was. I just love the fact that Deaver was essentially jealous of Jack and that fueled his resentment of him. And I'd forgotten how Caroline dedicated herself to her brother for so many years. She certainly deserved her happiness with Jack.

What a gobsmacking wonderful read Dangerous Lover was. btw I must one of the few LMR fans who didn't really like the Midnight series. It was Woman on the Run that started me gushing about LMR.

I hope Dangerous Passion isn't too 'romantic' (at the expense of eroticism) as she says in her interview. Decide for yourself. Available here.

A View To A Kiss by Caroline Linden

2009-05-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

...no idea what the title is all about.

A really interesting book although not for everyone. Because it features a political intrigue sub-plot. From a really boring period of history. Of another country even. Very well written. Or the book could be viewed as a mild 'Bourne' wannabe seeing how the hero is misinformed as to the true nature of his mission by his superiors and has to figure out the truth for himself. Mind you he was a bit thick about the horticultural letters that Crane was writing. The romance was so good there seemed to be too little of it. Fortunately the two threads in the book dove-tailed nicely towards the end of the story. Although I did struggle as to who was who in the resolution chapter which tbh features the generally reviled deux ex machina plot device...something which, like magic vaginas, I personally have no problem with. (Listen, if adults can go for Potter magic wands in their millions why quibble about shoe-horned HEAs?) Again only sporadic hotness. I could care less about Brandon, Angelique and Ian.

The trouble was both the hero and heroine were on the wrong side. I looked up 'Cato Street' on Wiki. As far as I could tell the conspiracy had its roots in ordinary people protesting about protectionism and political corruption. As is hinted in the story, significant numbers were starving. So why was Harry on the side of the establishment? How could he possibly accept Doncaster's offer of a 'pocket borough' when that is exactly the sort of thing people were protesting about?

Anyway I really enjoyed the portrayal of the heroine Mariah. She falls in love for the first time and lets nothing come between her and her chosen one. I liked how she saw through Harry's disguise as old Lord Wroth. Some great 'stolen moment' kissing. I'm so used to heroines in other novels regretting their first romance and moving onto a series of new guys that I really appreciated this portrayal of a young woman's trust and loyalty to her first love. Plus. There is a touch of realism in that I believe Mariah behaves exactly like a young heiress...not bothered who she hook's up with knowing parental money will sort everything out nicely. I think she'll make a great politician's wife. Harry however is bound to become disillusioned with the political process within 5 years imo.

Terrible cover again. The heroine has too modern a profile and looks to be about 10 years older than the hero. Who seems to have an unfortunate problem with his right eyelid.

I keep re-reading the 'good' chapters....ie all the scenes where Harry and Mariah meet and talk. And then all the chapters where the plot climbs to its climax! (Amazingly) Yes. The book has flaws (but who wants a perfect story); for instance, Harry loves Mariah because she's so very beautiful and I'm not sure Mariah would appreciate that. And yes. Harry is ambitious. But it also has excitement (the bomb under the carriage). I love a book where bits of it stick in my mind.

...I've got a little confused...suddenly I've read 2 good historicals in a row...I just hope my high standards (or my hormones) aren't slipping.

Busy busy little me.

2009-05-25T02:07:00.000-07:00

I've been reviewing away like a little pro recently....

However.

Nothing. NOTHING. Has come anywhere near the perfection that is Cold As Ice. I still absolutely love it. Although it has been at the top of my recommended list for nearly 2 years.

Currently I'm loving it because of the heroine's little death wish that makes an appearance in the first half of the story.

All girls know. Love and death go hand in hand...something very few authors are capable of writing about in a non-threatening kind of way.

Plus. I think I've got the postage thing worked out. Forget abe. Their people often send out the wrong books which is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. Don't bother with amazon. It takes too long. Use amazon marketplace. Much faster than amazon. (Because I read old romances from other readers favorite lists I'm not too fussed about the condition of the novels.) That's what works for me.

Tempting Fate by Alissa Johnson

2009-05-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

I'm still reading this book. But I have to mention that on page 147 the heroine, despite not being terribly rich and basically living with the hero and his family, tells him "I buy my own clothes."

Much better than the shameless Meg from the previous rubbish novel. However. There's no hotness in the story....

Wow! This is a really good historical. Totally because some thought has gone into the character of the heroine. Although she lives with the hero's family Mira still has some pride and basically looks forward to the day she inherits her father's money and can buy a little cottage and invite all the family who have shared their home with her for so long into her own little home. Ahh! Isn't that sweet. What is really enjoyable in the story is the initial verbal sparring between the main couple and how they manage their truce. I loved all that. I also completely empathised with Mira's shame at the venality of her uncle's life and her worry of how it would affect her relationship with Whit. I loved the passage where Mira allowed Whit his principles because he was rich but acknowledged that others less fortunate might have to compromise their values at various times. That probably explains why she had pre-marital nookie with Whit.

The 'heroine in danger' scenes towards the end of the book were also convincing. Unusually this novel contains a mother who wishes for nothing more than that the main couple should fall in love. But the way she goes about plotting the development of their relationship is truly astounding. As is the number of suspicious characters who turn out to be good-guys.

Mira's uncle was a disgusting piece of slime. Not because of any criminal activities (non-existent)...but because he impoverished his young niece and 'sold' her off to a creep. That's what life could be like for single females in those days. And Mira suffered real violence from Eppersly and Hartsinger. Poor girl. For much of the novel I got the sense that Mira balanced on the cusp of complete degradation and that provided more than enough tension and danger for me. (Even though thankfully she mostly remained unaware of her predicament.)

I've hardly mentioned the hero Whit. But what I liked about him is that once he realises he loves Mira, which is about two-thirds through the book, he immediately thinks of her as his wife. And that justifies the pre-marital relations between Mira and what is supposed to be an honorable man.

The main strength of the story though is the many and varied conversations and encounters between Mira and Whit. While I may bemoan the lack of hotness, in fact any more hotness would have actually been out of place within this story as it was written. The trouble is. Without 'hotness' many novels just end up being bland and I'm not sure that this isn't true for this story also.

This is an out of the ordinary historical with an unfortunately boring cover. I bought it because it popped up on my recommendations list on amazon. Imagine that!

At the end of the year this romance may end up on my recommended list. My only hesitation is that there is a power element in this relationship that Whit just doesn't acknowledge...although on the whole he also doesn't abuse it either.

Tempted by His Kiss by Tracy Ann Warren

2009-05-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Yuk. This was going to be another dnf but then I thought maybe I've been a bit fussy with my romances so I gave it another chance. More's the pity.

Let's just say that once Meg goes to live with Cade and his family the game of chess never makes another appearance. She started out as a fairly interesting independent heroine. That impression changed when she agreed to perpetrate the fraud on Cade's family and then when she agreed to let him buy her tons and tons of clothes. So she was hardly in a position to say no when he crept into her bedroom night after night to introduce her to 'new positions.' All that was just tawdry. Unfortunately the author also has Meg humiliated both by Everett, who basically said she was easily fooled, and then by Cade, who said she was an easy lay. Poor Meg. I felt her shame. But also I agreed with both the comments made by the guys. And then the author has her almost commit murder for the sake of the guy who had just insulted her. Meg still gives Cade her unconditional love!! In God's name, "Why?"

The trouble is that Cade doesn't actually talk that much to Meg during the novel. He escorts her to parties and shops but it's hard to see how the relationship develops. He is also a blockhead who doesn't seem to realise how much he hurt Meg with his words; and he is also too easily provoked to violence and led up the garden path by the so-called villain. No way could a character like Cade have been any kind of successful spy with the type of temperament he displays in the novel. And then there's the fact that even after he does her for the first time (due to 'loss of control') he states he can never marry Meg because of his guilt about Calida...pathetic cop-out.

Also. Didn't Meg have any friends of her own? Whatever. She never seems to look them up once she is esconced within the Byron family home. btw It is unimaginable that a dowager Duchess would allow a second son to install a woman who is effectively his mistress into the family home. I've never read that in a historical before.

Originally I stopped reading around Chapter 6. That's when the heroine, a single female in cod-regency times, goes into the bedroom of a man who is almost a stranger and let's him molest her ...because she likes him. Not a thought to call the servants to help Cade in his nightmare. And then when they consumate their relationship for the first time he lets her wake up alone the following morning to preserve appearances. Very sordid, although the penny never dropped for Meg. Still she got what she wanted. Marriage to a good-looking rich nobleman. Unfortunately the humiliations and general disrespect made it all seem decidedly unromantic to this reader. It's no big deal to marry a pig.

btw. There is no such word as 'shined.' The past tense of 'shine' is 'shone.' Anyone who's ever sung hymns knows that.

Very poor overall.

In The Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind

2009-05-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Let's cut to the quick in true spoiler style. This story is about a woman in her late 20's finding out she has a dual heritage. I decided to accept that as it is written. So yes. We are in supposed worthy literature land. And in this place an author has to be quite careful imo. At the same time I'm not a reader who absorbs all the teeny tiny details in a novel...it's the general impression that I'm often left with.

So let's go. This novel manages to reference Gerard Butler (written before he gained '300' mega-stardom despite the fact that he has appeared in so much appalling cack both before and since), Tupac...and gob-smackingly astoundingly some character called 'Sambo' (a true wtf moment seeing how's I personally have never ever come across him in any fiction book in my whole life...other than when reading scathing tracts about life pre-MLK cornerstone speech...and I'm not too happy that I read it in this story either.) all in the space of a couple of pages towards the middle of the story. So on that level the book fails for me. Then later on there's this conversation that includes the words 'watermelon' and 'fried chicken' in the space of half a page. I didn't appreciate that either. I'd love to know the intended audience for this book.

The story just sags interminably for the middle half. The hero Blue is just too happy being maudlin and more importantly is basically irrelevant for much of the plot. Although I liked the detail about pets, music, orchids, it too is completely irrelevant to anything. Too much time is spent on repeatedly detailing Ellie's 'plainness' when actually her looks are also irrelevant to the successful life she leads. (Although with hindsight I think the author was trying to give the reader clues as to the outcome of Ellie's personal search.) What is the point of writing a love story where the heroine tells the hero that if he doesn't want to be with her she will keep an eye out for someone who does? Is that anything other than a notch on the bedpost of life?

Mabel gave up her baby son to the mother of the lover she shot dead. That would make sense if the lover had been some kind of upstanding citizen...but he was a total dog. Did she want her son to turn out the same way? And she gave up her music too!!! Fine. But then she continues living in the same small town under a different name! Childless and unmarried for 30-years. Without being bitter? I didn't get that either. Of course her story is potentially 100-times more interesting than that of serial lover Ellie. Also unfortunately I tend to totally loathe 'I'm having your baby and I can raise the child on my own' story-lines or even 'I'm having your baby and I'll run away so you can chase me' story-lines. The former is selfish, the latter is a form of bullying..neither are appropriate to a romance. And why did Blue go after Ellie...Marcus told him to and drove him there. So even as a romance this novel just died for me.

There is a lot of emotion in the novel but it's based too much around Ellie's particular issues about her previous love-life. A few conversations with Blue might have helped her and helped the reader see more of the relationship between the two of them.

And watching Ellie cast around for potential candidates to be her father turned out to be almost as boring as the never-ending cyphers featured in the Da Vinci Code. Just too many appetizers not enough real plot.

I could never recommend the Dave Brandstetter books by Joseph Hansen because although they are well-written many of the ethnic characters are basically kind stereotypes. And this novel is quite similar to that.

Night Angel by Renee Reeves

2009-05-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

Something has gone terribly wrong with this book. It took me a little while to figure out what it was. And then suddenly I realised. The gratuitously salacious descriptions of Richard’s abuse of Morgan. (Who. By the way. Is a complete off the chart head-case.) Why does anyone put up with that kind of treatment if they don’t like it? And as far as I could tell from the fantasies, Nick wanted to do pretty much the same to Morgan as Richard had, but this time with her consent. Why would she give it??

I just didn’t get Morgan all round. She didn’t escape Richard. He conveniently got killed one day by a drunk-driver. If not. Morgan would still be in the marriage with him. And it struck me that what Morgan was looking for with Nick, was another abusive relationship. Well. She certainly chose a likely candidate. Actually. Morgan is like Zsadist. She doesn’t need a lover. She is in desperate need of some serious, serious therapy. Six years of an horrendous abusive marriage and she’s going to commit to another guy after just months of being single. Jeez. She’s like an addict looking for her next hit, so to speak.

One big reason Morgan needs a therapist is to teach her how to say no through her mouth not just in her head. There is one scene where Nick wants to make love in the morning but Morgan doesn’t. But she doesn’t tell him. She leaves it to Nick to guess from her expression that she’s too sore for the act. Sorry. That’s just too much self-martyrdom for me to understand. Why should Nick have to guess what she wants?? That constitutes unreasonable behaviour imo. Let’s not even go there about why she stayed with the husband for six years of hell. The week after the honeymoon is when she should have left him.

So the big question is. Why was Nick attracted to Morgan? Is it because she’s been scarred and abused like his rescue horses? And that’s where his particular talent lies…giving self-respect back to victimized beings? (I sure hope it’s not because having relations with abused horses is not acceptable unlike it’s very worthy to fall in love with an abused human being….I mean let’s not forget that Nick has done serious time inside…hur hur.)

I think what the author was trying to say is that Richard’s actions were only wrong because he did not gain consent from Morgan. And those same actions could give pleasure to Morgan if she gave the consent she withheld from Richard, her abusive husband. But that is plainly rubbish imo. Come to think of it, this story reminds me too too much of Ben’s Wildflower!!! And that is not a good thing at all!!!

I used to know a woman who told me up front she divorced her husband because he wanted too much from her in the bedroom. Even though he had a good job she was happy to walk out with nothing more than she brought in.

In the end I can’t recommend this novel. It’s just too gross-out weird. Yes. There’s a happy ending but there was too in Ben’s Wildflower. Plus. This is one of those erotics where they guy does all the ‘work’ so to speak…like he was a servant or something. He’s supposed to be happy that he gets his girl to scream. That’s hokum.

I would also like to say a word about abused animal sanctuaries and animal charities. Where was Nick’s funding coming from? Looking after groups of animals just eats up cash. And who is the biggest destroyer of unwanted animals…animal charities of course. Just be very aware of what’s going on. Good luck to Nick though. I sure hope his love for Morgan doesn’t conflict with his love of horses. She’s a very very needy person as far as I can tell.

Allie's Moon by Alexis Harrington

2009-05-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

A fine example of a retro romance whose main purpose seems to be that it shows just how wonderful most modern females heroines really are.

The story features an evil female relative of the heroine, Allie. As a reader it gets just a little annoying that 90% of relatives featured in many romances are just so all-fired supportive of one another. Is it too much to ask that a couple of the wives of the BDB or the Breed might not like one another? It seems the answer is yes. (One of the many reason why I stopped reading both series ages ago.) Anyway, Olivia, the selfish sister in this story is a truly nasty piece of work. Why, she’s willing to get an innocent man hanged rather than see the heroine, Allie, happy. Boo!

Unfortunately. The story also features a device which I am glad to say most authors have abandoned. Although all relations are consensual, I couldn’t rid myself of the suspicion that what Allie experiences is a form of transference, or even gratitude. She is generally living such a dry life where for years she has sublimated all her emotions that really, anyone could have come along, shown her some affection, and she would probably have ‘fallen in love’ with him. Allie basically goes from being her sister’s go-for to being a housewife for her husband. Not that the husband isn’t a very nice hero indeed. But I wasn’t too sure that when times get tough, Jeff lacks some backbone. Whilst Allie, on the other hand is a person who delivers 200% when it matters most.

I quite enjoyed this romance. Not least because neither the hero nor heroine are hypocrites which is so often the case with historical romances. Not much hotness though.

…if this novel had been written in 2009, what would have happened is that Jeff would have been entranced by Olivia, leaving Allie free to pack up her carpet bag and head for the nearest big city where she would have become a successful shop-keeper, then fallen in love and married a mining tycoon’s drunk wayward son who’s feeling guilty because he thinks he caused a cave-in where miners died.

But that wouldn’t have made this romance any better though.

The Mark of the Vampire Queen by Joey W. Hill

2009-05-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

This was the biggest load of hokum tosh and twaddle I have read (right to the very end, tee hee) in a very long time. With half-baked literally pertentions that just serve to drag out the well-buried plot. About half of the endless bump and grind is unremittingly sordid and degrading to all participants. Jacob the hero, in other books, would be a class A creepy obsessive. I hadn't read the prequel but his fondness for servility was totally explained by the fact that he seems to have been a travelling carnival performer. The big insurection scene at the south american villa is almost comical in its absurdity.

But the saddest thing in the story is how the heroine, Lyssa changes. For most of the novel she's an arrogant, low-minded piece of nastiness. With her own home. Lots of nice cars and clothes too. Jeez. She even has her own territory where she offers sanctuary to other vampires. By the end of the book she has absolutely none of those things left. Basically homeless, without clothes, running wild in the deepest Appalachian forests. And often fearful.

Much of the novel is full of chatter between her and Jacob; mostly her telling him what to do. She talked to him through her mouth and through her mind. In the final chapter this once proud powerful female has almost no voice at all. All the author has her do is listen to Jacob's stupid prattle about how deep his love for her is.

Jacob doesn't even ask her permission to change her back into a human form. He should have! And the roles are reversed. Now he's the powerful vampire.While Lyssa is....well. Ordinary I suppose. Tears came to my eyes at how far she had fallen. Why would she, formerly a thousand year-old vampire queen, be happy with that for more than a microsecond? Anyway. Here's hoping the baby will live...unlike her first one.

The characteristic a reader needs to read this book is 'fortitude.' It takes forever for the plot to run its course. And why on earth choose the charisma-free aussie couple for the sequel??!! Australia is a land of light so how can it support a culture based on darkness??!! The author should have bit the bullet and gone wholly oriental. (You know I love the imagery of Throne of Blood...and that's even nothing about vampires.)

dearauthor.com have produced a much better review of this book than me. Although I'm not surprised it's absent from Mrs Giggles's site. She probably would have an apoplectic fit at the ending.

Not for everyone. I've ordered two very gentle romances as a result of reading MoVQ. Plus the prequel. (Oops. Should I have admitted that.)

Making Chase by Lauren Dane.

2009-04-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic piece of romance writing. Easily the best I've read since Wild Card. The story had me gobsmackingly entranced from beginning to end. The reason is entirely due to the heroine, Tate. The short, fat, supposedly ugly Tate...even though she's a natural blonde. I could not get over the amount of abuse she gets from so many people. The way her Dad talked to her was horrible and the way Tate put up with it for the sake of her siblings was astounding. Yet she still visits her parents monthly!!! Then there was the unbelievably nasty way complete strangers spoke to her....just because she was going out with the good-looking (rich) Matt Chase. I still shake my head at the horror of it all. I ask you. Would you keep going out with a guy whose friends treated you like Tate was treated??? And boy, Tate can keep secrets from Matt. Oh my! She doesn't tell him her Dad is blackmailing her for a lot of money. And then she gets angry with him when he gets upset with her for not telling him. Phew!

The truth is. Of course. Tate is a complete neurotic psycho. And a latent control freak. As evidenced by her own admission that she cannot make friends outside her own family. (And how weird is that?) To be honest though. Who can blame her with the type of upbringing she had. I loved reading her story but I'd run a mile if I met her in real life.

The families in the novel are reverse-stereotype. So the family of the dirt poor drunk and slut ie Tate's parents, all turn out to be fine upstanding adults with not a hint of bro poking sis in any way whatsoever. Plus Tate herself, for sure, would probably have three kids all by different men in reality. None of that. She's single and over thirty. But Matt's family were somewhat interesting. Two of his sisters-in-law have dated brothers they are not married to. I thought that was a bit weird.

I loved the food thread running in the book. Tate knows all about preparing delicious food. Her derision of processed cheese and pressed turkey from the supermarket was truely sublime. She has so many quirks. The 'not eating pie' was totally believable. As was the need to have her own space after a bout of parental abuse. I hope Tate and Matt end up happy with loving children of their own. I strongly suspect that in the end Tate will totally wear Matt down. Because. As is often the case. When she isn't being a victim Tate often comes across as highly manipulative. Bless.

Thank you to the author for not only writing a strong story but keeping the romance h-h-hot!

I also loved the blonde on the cover. The look in her eyes! Attitude, experience, personality. What a woman!

In the space of 4 days I read this novel about 2 times and kept dipping into various chapters whenever. Absolutely definitely recommended.

Rachel and the Hired Gun by Elaine Levine.

2009-03-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

What is Sager's full name? I don't think we ever find out.

This is basically a terribly nice and sweet romance, with omg! some pre-marital nookie. (Shame!) A lot happens in the story. The heroine is menaced by a rabid wolf, cattle-rustling, a homestead is attacked, a wicked step-mom is murdered a barn is set on fire, our heroine is kidnapped by thugs, the hero is drugged but his good friend conveniently steps in to save the day. But at no point in the novel did I feel either the hero or heroine was in any kind of danger. There was no actual evidence that Sager was in fact a 'hired gun'.

Both Rachel and Sager have had difficult early lives. But their emotions are entirely straightforward. Nothing twisted and certainly no bitterness. Take Sager. At one point he discovers that he'd been the lover of the woman who'd had his native american adoptive family murdered. I didn't get any sense of shame or guilt. Actually he should have been seriously ashamed that he'd done the dirty with his step-mom and that maybe his step-bro was actually his son!!! But there's none of that in the book. I liked Rachel. Because although she knows she's been brought home to marry the son of a local rancher, there is no question at all that she loves Sager and has no intention of allowing her family to pimp her into a loveless marriage. See. It's easy to be honest. In fact. I failed to see too much of the supposed enmity between Sid and Old Jack. I really enjoyed the scene where naked Sager teaches naked Rachel not to be afraid of swimming in a river.

Rachel is actually some kind of superwoman. She cooks, plants vegetables, shoots guns...and never feels a shred of fear. The characters of the main villains, Cassandra and Tom are very thinly written. The author is one of those writers who seems to have had no experience of nasty backstabbing people and so is unable to portray that kind of person with any degree of reality. tbh that made a nice change and its part of the reason why I liked the book. However the story did take me about 3 weeks to read through because there is absolutely no tension to drag the reader from one chapter to another.

There were some obvious series setting scenes towards the end of the book. (Julian, the two weird women, etc) The most unrealistic scene of all was were Sager and Sid basically give away 150 head of cattle like they were worthless beads.

Don't for a moment think this story is in any way comparable to the mind-blowing Only You (Willow and Caleb) or even the masterly Spanish Stirrup. But all in all. An ok read. Just strangely emotionless and superficial.

Three In Death by J D Robb.

2009-03-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

Interlude In Death.

I loved this. Because it was short with minimal padding. And the writing is just so much better imo. The theme is basically the same as Vengeance In Death. Namely; a parent twisting their child to become a murderer. Don’t know why. I just like that theme. If you broaden it out, you get Jim Jones, David Koresh and innumerable cults. I think therefore I am. None of the misguided children in Vengeance or Interlude seem to have done any thinking or questioning for themselves. No vampires either. Just human people gone wrong. Fantastic. I actually like how Roarke skates around legality. And I like how Eve doesn’t dress like a hooker but is still attractive. Unlike Diana in the previous p.o.s. that I read. More nookie too in this one. However I’m sure I remember in the first few In Death novels there was usually a scene where Eve for some reason either took her clothes off or ended up naked in front of strangers. That’s missing from this story. As, thankfully, are Nadine and the needy singer, whose name I’ve forgotten. There’s a supposed photo of Eve on the back cover. Looking incredibly like a young Nora. Personally I’ve never thought of Nora as anything other than a writer. Actually I much preferred the photos of the Dickinson look-a-like posed as Eve on the cover of the earlier editions of the In Death novels.

Midnight In Death.

I’d read this before. Which is always the danger when you buy an anthology of previously published work. I didn’t like it the first time around and nothing has changed. Basically the plot although not too graphic is far too nasty. A serial killer who likes to torture his victims before he murders them. And suddenly he wants Eve as his ultimate victim but oh, he’s going to kill 3 other people as well. That’s where McBain’s (aka Sal Lombardo!!) 87th precinct stories started going wrong for simple me. When he invented perps who wanted a personal relationship with the cops. David Palmer, the serial killer fixates on Eve who put him away. I’ve never heard of such a case. It just seems too illogical to me. Most criminals seem to understand that it’s their crimes that result in their incarceration….not the boring detective that headed the investigative team. Dave succeeds in kidnapping Dr Mira but oh, unlike all his previous victims he doesn’t torture her while he’s waiting for Eve to show up. He leaves her unharmed. That didn’t make sense. Nor did the fact that he was able to single-handedly take down Mira’s protective team of 3 trained officers. And just what did he expect to do to Eve once he’d made the exchange? Seeing how he knew she had a back-up team waiting directly outside the house. So basically none of the denouement scene made sense in the light of the build-up he’d got in the early part of the story. Just as well. But Eve didn’t come out of it too well either. Seeing how too many innocent people died before she solved the case.

Haunted In Death.

This story is just ok. Nowhere near enough romance between Eve and Roarke. The plot is interesting for the fact that Eve is amazingly unsympathetic about the murder of Bobbie Bray many years ago. This is the same woman (Eve) that felt obliged to leave no stone unturned when searching for the murderer of her abusing former foster-mom, even though it resulted in another child she had mistreated going to jail forever. So in Eve’s self-righteous world being a junkie is worse than mistreating kids. I feel obliged to add that in a couple of recent In Death books I felt that Eve was wrong to catch and jail the murderers. Both of whom had been terribly abused by the so-called victim. Some people are so evil they deserve to die. But Eve doesn’t seem to have the humanity to see that. Eve has been around some 20 years now. She needs to show she has mature views of the world. Not just the same opinions she had when she first joined the NYPSD.

Great rom-sus...but not a romance.

Darkness Calls by Caridad Pineiro

2009-03-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

I felt sorry for the hero Ryder. Turned during the Civil War, he feels attracted to FBI Agent Diana, a woman who at 19 years old “recovered from the heartache of a long-term relationship gone sour” by going on a 6-month bender and getting a tattoo. Similar to 17 y.o Bella falling “irrevocably” in love with Edward. Ryder will probably struggle to cope with her yakking about inane trivialitities 24/7 on her cell. There’s a lot about 21st century living that really isn’t particularly attractive. But I suppose enough people are happy with it.

I stopped being a fan of cop shows ever since I read the pathetically low crime-solving statistics of most police forces. Which was after the first series of Law and Order which I loved. But also I behave in completely safe ways so I just don’t meet much crime. Most fictional agents I read about, like the heroine in this novel, have super-confidence in their abilities. And they show it. I prefer the subtleties of Colombo. Now he was confident enough to let the perps think he was a bumbling idiot. Great. Did I mention the Rampart business? Hilarious. Unless you’re in the position where you actually rely on these people to uphold the law.

No such nuances in this story. The heroine continues to be a pain. She feels instinctive trust for a man who socks her on the jaw…because he’s handsome. And then feels disappointed because he doesn’t follow through on a promise he clearly made under duress. Ryder isn’t a suspect. Yet her response to his non-appearance at the police station is to threaten a warrant of arrest. Being a cop of any sort requires a lot better people-skills than that nowadays. Diana’d struggle with any kind of big investigation. She’s totally one-dimensional. And for a cop to have a relationship with a possible suspect should be completely out of order.

I also hated the food scenes. Perfectly acceptable if you’re a successful middle-aged romance-writing blimp. But to eat “a plate of pasta swimming in olive oil topped with prawn-size shrimp” in your mid-20s is just too gross for words. An invitation to obesity. The way the vampire hero forces himself to chomp down garlic-bread (another hello to cardiac arrest in later years) because the heroine likes it made me lose empathy with the putz.

Generally this is a novel in which there is only minimal demarcation between work and personal life. So about half of the relationship building between Ryder and Diana goes on while she is miked up. And when those two get down to it for the first time; of course her work partner David knows she’s done the deed just by looking at her. Not that it’s really any of his business. I’ve met women like Diana. Having chosen a career in a predominantly male environment they slowly work their way through their colleagues and/or supervisors. One after the other. The work-place psychologist also gets told by Diana about her encounter with Ryder. I squirmed. In the end I just so wanted Diana to get fired or re-assigned to traffic duty. It was painful reading about her bumbling around the case.

I lost my remaining empathy for vampire Ryder when he drank from Diana during sex without telling her what he was doing. Dumb bunny Diana just accepted his story that she’d passed out from excitement!!!! Ok. She’s unlikely to realise Ryder is a vampire. But if she was any kind of real cop she’d have thought that maybe he’d given her some kind of drug and videotaped their session. Actually. From that moment on I thought Diana had a lot in common with the hookers the BDB used to drink from before they fell in love with their chosen females.

However I persevered with the novel. Until page 202 where the grisly torture of Ryder began. Isn’t it strange how modern female authors struggle to portray the deep emotion of love but are so effective at writing about excruciating pain. I don’t buy a romance to read that kind of thing. I checked out at that point. Silhouette should warn gentle readers such as myself about R-rated scenes appearing in their novels. They didn’t. So I will. Avoid like the plague unless you enjoyed the Hannibal Lector movies. But maybe that is the modern young female romance reader.( I wouldn’t be surprised.)

Final word. Of course a talented author could have carried me along to the end of the story despite the torture. But so much of the novel before page 202 was just cack. Ryder is an interesting relationship for Diana. That will probably last 1 year, max, and then she'll move on to the next relationship. Despite that. I can see why the book was successful. Vampires, sex, torture…all for 50c. Excluding p&p. From Amazon marketplace. (And 100% reliable so far…unlike abe where too often I get sent the wrong books.) Just didn’t like the characters much. …Now Melissa and Ryder would have had a much more interesting relationship.

Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole

2009-02-09T02:58:00.000-08:00

This is the novel for you if you’re a reader who can take lightweight hookers as heroines. If you prefer some emotional depth and feeling in the romances you read then avoid this like the plague.

Complete babyish cack from start to finish. (Not that I did actually finish this drivel.) For starters. Every character has a special special name. Like Queen of Illusions, King of Demons, Deathless One, Enemy of Old, Sorceri, blah blah blah. With many many special special powers. Trouble is. Their problems are no different from yours or mine.

To be honest. I’ve never yet read a good novel that featured a demon. Rydstrom starts out ok. And the guy on the cover is absolutely gorgeous. But he’s too easily trapped by Sabine. Who despite being a nominal first-timer is basically a woman who hasn’t gone all the way, but has definitely gone down on a lot of guys in the past.

There’s a lot of references to popular culture quite early in the novel. I-pods, movies like ‘The Craft.’ So I’ll include one of my own. Rydstrom being held prisoner, stripped of his clothes while in a drugged stupor by a number of servants as the heroine and her sister chat merrily nearby reminded me a little too much of the antics of Grainer and his buddies. I got to page 61 and stopped reading. Guess I moved too far outside the box.

dnf.

Father Mine by J R Ward

2009-02-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

This novella is only available in e-book format. So there it is. Stuck on my lap-top. Can't take it to work with me. Can't read it on any kind of journey. Unlike a proper paper book. I loathe e-books. I downloaded it in pdf format. But first I had to download Adobe Digital Editions Crap. The week after I downloaded Father Mine, digital editions wanted to upgrade. I declined the upgrade. So the original download refused to load. And I couldn't read Father Mine at all. I was forced to accept the upgrade. Another reason to hate e-books.

Of course. I enjoyed Father Mine. What is it about? Zsadist coming to love Nalla. Of all things. And coming more to terms with his past. The novella ends in a scene familiar to everyone who's read Lover Avenged.

I had to read Father Mine really carefully to pick up the plot. Basically Z still doesn't really like anyone other than Bella to touch him. And Bella would really appreciate it if Z could be a proper Dad to Nalla and pick her up, hold her and love her lots. Z, basically, doesn't want his daughter to have his legacy of pain and degradation...so he avoids her. That's really sad. I used to think it was really silly how all the men in the BDB had had such terrible childhoods. But maybe that's how they came to bond together. Also none of them have had much formal education so they don't really understand their motivations or behaviours. Particularly true for Z. Mary could have told Z that by ignoring his child he was essentially repeating (less seriously) his own childhood deprivations. But that probably wouldn't help him to find a solution. Other than in regard to his fighting skills, Z has serious self-esteem issues I suppose. But he doesn't whine. Just gets on with his job...killing Lessers. Also he is still reluctant to feed. So not much has changed since LA.

Bella of course is probably well-educated. And she isn't going to let her high motherhood standards slip. Despite the fact that she chose to mate with a brute and her bro' is a drug-dealing probable patricide. (If I read previous books correctly) Bella wants a doting Dad for Nalla. End of. Bella is also not a doormat. (The derisory name some readers gave to 80's romance heroines who stuck to the philosophy 'I will stay and love my man and thereby change his character.') Bella is the other kind of heroine. The 'I'll leave my man unless he changes his character' type of gal. The '...and I'll take our child with me when I go' type of gal. Bella will probably be walking out on Z about every 2 years over one or other aspects of his behaviour. One day he'll have to call her bluff if he wants to keep his balls. I was so appreciative of the scene with T. W. when the reader saw that to an outsider Z still looked big, evil and mean. That he could still pull out his black-eye look.

I've missed the language of the BDB. Just what does it mean, when a body is "head and footed?"; what is a sitch? But even I got the idea of the meaning of a 'Fed-Ex-tinction' package. Boy! Where does she find them?!!

For a 92-page novella I thought the plotting and pace were perfect. Minimal padding. (Just the dross with T. W. and his wife...like any reader was interested.) Currently. Z and Bella are the only true vampire couple in the BDB mansion. And in some ways. Z has fallen for a woman who is very similar to his abusing mistress with her privileged background and the fact that she likes a bit of rough, so to speak. I wonder if he'll ever make the connection himself. Zsadist's dream is of course very very strange. I'm glad Mary was able to use her skills to help Z.

A few years ago Penguin experimentally produced some tiny paperbacks that sold for about $1. That format would have suited this novella perfectly.

All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz

2009-02-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

I always thought that JAK's series romances were quite strong on the romance between the main couple. But when she branched out into bigger books. Well. The relationship took over. But I doubt if many readers understand what I'm talking about.

This is a perfectly acceptable rom-sus. With the exception that, unusually for JAK, I thought the villains were a truely loathsome family. I quite enjoyed the juxtaposition of the hero's relationship with his own father compared to Ryland's relationship with Victor. In a way this novel is all about decent versus degenerate patriarchs.

The heroine is a small-town journalist. And at first I despised her actions in blabbing about the death of her former friend to her employers. But it all came good in the end.

There is quite a high body count in this story. Personally. I think JAK does Marine stories better than Lora. I though it weird how Luke's family at first see Irene as some sort of unstable gold-digger. Irene came across as a very capable person. Looking at her from the outside I could almost describe her as a ball-breaker. Except that she was very nice to Luke. At the core of this rom-sus is a very sordid child-abuse plot.

I enjoyed Luke's laid back approach to running a hotel. I appreciated the author's skill in despicting Luke's time in the Marines without naming the country whilst leaving absolutely no doubt in the readers mind of exactly where he'd seen his action. JAK has always had a tendency to depict her main couple as the 'homeliest people in the room' and this novel is no exception to that trait.

I chose to read this story because I'm desperate for some good contemporaries. This book was completely acceptable although, as I said, a little light on the emotional side.

The main reason why I stopped buying JAK was because, a few years ago, I found that I was rebuying novels that I already had (in my attic) because the publishers were re-titling old stories. That type of thing annoys me intensely.

Dark Needs at Nights Edge by Kresley Cole

2009-01-24T06:53:00.000-08:00

Straight in chapter 1, the heroine is poignantly murdered by an obsessive admirer. And becomes a ghost fated to haunt her former home forever. So what does she do? She shows all the signs of falling in love with the hero, who gives out all the signs of being a violent total nutcase. Talk about repeating relationship cycles!

Whatever. This is an excellent story of two doomed lovers basically. There is a great build-up to a tragic climax. And inbetween, the author's usual trademark frivolous diversions into shopping and entertainment. In one scene the heroine eats the most enormous amount of food imaginable. Another author trademark is that she is surprisingly good at depicting the horror of violent deeds. Her Immortals should get some guns though. They do just as much damage as swords.

I actually cried when the heroine, Neomie, gets killed for the second time. Even though I fully knew that somehow there would definitely be a HEA.

I thought the first in the series was just too lightweight but this book has much tighter plotting and proper characterisation.

As urban mythology Immortals After Dark is now absolutely miles better than either BDB and the Night Breed series, both of which relentlessly continue their sad downward slide towards boring mediocrity.

Anyway. Very enjoyable. But alas. Also instantly forgettable. Which is the big drawback with many urban fantasies. That's why I usually avoid them. The novel is also completely formulaic in that many of the peripheral characters are either leads from previous books in the series or being set up to be the hero in future entries to the cannon. Blatantly mercenary. Still. Needs must.

Nauti Boy by Lora Leigh

2009-01-03T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is the novel that put me off reading romances for months....basically it's vile and stupid but like all this author's books it has some nice ideas around the beginning of the story.

Like. None of the young people in the book have to worry about getting a job. And that's it for me.

So. Let's discuss the vileness.

The main couple are step-brother and sister. Though not blood related. How does that make their relationship acceptable?? They grew up together. Even worse. Much later in the book, the hero's father wishes he'd married the heroine's mother much earlier in his life because then the heroine and hero would really be bro and sis. And it would seem the Dad was involved in a 3some with the heroine's mom and her first, now deceased, hubby. So, I think, the poor heroine really never had a chance to have a normal (safe) relationship.

Ok. The heroine has a violent anonymous stalker who has unsuccessfully attacked her in the past. And she has never done it before anyway. Why on earth would she attracted to the idea of a 3some with her beau and his 2 friends?? That was just a complete nonsense. So common of so much erotica.

Now the stupidity. Very standard for a lot of recent romances. Much is written about that the hero and his budds are highly capable marines who go all out to protect the heroine from her killer stalker. So how come the one bad guy who is actually a no-account weed manages to outsmart the 3 nautis consistently throughout the book?

I have to say I did read this novel from beginning to end. I did not find it boring. It was probably the character of Kelly that kept me involved. I think she's attracted to taking safe risks. But she makes the correct decision in the end. Or rather. Any perversions the hero wants her to get involved in will occur in other later books.

Lord of Fire by Gaelen Foley

2008-10-13T12:11:00.001-07:00

I am being so good.

Reading this utter fucking boring badly plotted contradictory nonsensical tripe from beginning to end. It is taking me forever and a day to plod my way through it.

Apart from the deflowering scene there is no hotness whatsoever. The overwhelming problem is the self-righteous, delusional too-stupid-to-live heroine. And yes. She thoroughly deserves to die. Time after time she almost causes the hero's death.

Plus the totally useless nitwit hero. Who is supposed to be a spymaster!!! But cannot find a big enormously fat Frenchman masquerading as Germanic nobility who is being introduced to the ton by a broke Lord of the realm. The hero's men not only shoot dead an unarmed woman in the back, but have completely innnocent French men and women thrown into jail. Jeez. What a bunch of fools.

tbc maybe. And please. Take offense and buy a better romance than this. I've read it so you don't have to. Ugh!

After the Kiss by Suzanne Enoch

2008-09-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

See how many chances I am giving to historical novels!

First. The cover. Is just plain weird. I mean its obvious they started with a photo of a good-looking couple. Then they seem to have photoshopped paint smudges over the photo. The effect of which is to make it look like there is strange hair growths all over the models. Over his face. So he looks scruffy. Over her clothes so they look scratchy and itchy. Very strange.

Actually. This novel is vile. Not that I dislike the main couple particularly. It is the theme that is vile. The hero is a grown man, who has fought in wars; he has friends, a good living...and he is totally obsessed with his relationship with his estranged daddy. That's twisted...and a bit babyish. The theme is class difference.

Boo hoo. The hero is the illegitimate son of a Lord...and he hates his daddy for rejecting him and taking his dead artist mommy's paintings when he was fighting in the Peninsular Wars. The heroine is of course a toff. I haven't finished the book yet but I know there will be a happy ending for the hero and heroine. But the question is. Would Sullivan have fallen in love with the heroine if she had been a servant instead of a Lady? The answer is most probably no. But it gets worse. The hero is a sortof part time criminal. (With the noblest of causes of course.) And he gets caught in the act by the heroine. In the book the heroine admits to herself pretty quickly that if the hero hadn't been so very very handsome she'd have turned him in to the authorites for hanging. How gross is that? (Class and eugenics in the same story. Ugh!)

The language in the book freqently takes the reader back to modern times. And is often highly culturally offensive. (I'm sure the Georgette Heyer stories I used to read never had that problem.) There is endless conversation about the hero's illegitimacy...often by the heroine and her friends. Phrases like 'by-blow' are used. Jeez. The guy has been in a war. But everyone is obsessed by his parentage. The question is. Why does he bother with those kind of people?

Many characters use a kind of mockney rhyming slang that didn't really come around til Victorian times. I'm sure the currency in Regency times was 'guineas' not 'quids'..which is an entirely modern word. Why would a Regency Lady ever set foot in the kitchen? I got totally confused when the heroine invites one of her beaus to eat some 'cooked biscuits.' Surely she couldn't be talking about the kind of hot biscuits cooked in pioneering times? They didn't ever ever exist in Regency England. I hate nick-names. Throughout much of the novel the heroine, Isabella, is referred to as 'Tibby' by her friends. Yuk.

The hero, Sullivan, is supposed to be a horse-breeder. On just 3 acres of land! I don't think so. I really didn't like how he loses colour when he's around his daddy's legitimate heirs. Was he some kind of pussy or what?

The book is about 350 pages long. The reader has to plod through the first 180 pages which basically detail the courtship between the main couple. Only a couple of kisses present. With lots of good conversations, inner and outer. After page 180 the story really comes to life. The frivolity disappears and some really quite serious issues are written about. Actually the novel almost gets quite sad with a hint of potential tragedy. At one point the hero acknowledges that if he cannot be with Isabel then he will remain unwed for the whole of his life. Boy. You don't read that very often.

The penultimate conclusion between the hero and his natural father was just a little too pat. Although in reality, I believe. The illegitimate son of a Lord of the Realm was often given his own title and income. It was only the main title and entailed lands that were inherited by legitimate heirs. So maybe the reconciliation scene wasn't too far-fetched after all.

I enjoyed how the heroine's family essentially support her efforts to help the hero. Even though she never gets round to actually telling them that she and her guy have got down to it a couple of times. The hero is quite a passive guy who relys a lot on his friends to help him out of a very tricky situation. Like someone who's had too many knocks in life. Maybe that's why he let himself get beaten up...too proud to run. The message comes across that yes, we like to think we determine our outcomes, but sometimes it is others around us who decide our futures. The heroine, Isabel is very easy to like. She knows what she wants and goes after it but doesn't at any point turn into even the ghost of a doormat. Like in all the best romances, falling in love opens the hero's eyes to the futility of his previous hatreds. (A similar theme formed the background to one of my favorite historicals; Dangerous by JAK.) I liked that. (Although without those hatreds, Sullivan would never have met Isabel. Would he?) I'm amazed Isabel's family didn't try to pay off the hero.

Please god, the author, at some later date, doesn't decide to make Oliver Waring, Lord Tilden, the hero of a novel in the series. In the nicest possible way, he was a truely disgusting character. After all. He spat at Sullivan when they were children. And then. Then. He tries to get the adult Sullivan hanged...because Isabel likes him. Oliver showed a true 'master-slave' mentality. There is no possible redemption for that piece of slime.

My final impression was; 'Thank goodness Sullivan was handsome and good in bed. Otherwise he'd have been dead...about 3 times over.' The book is ok though. Very readable.

What Isabella Desires by Anne Mallory.

2008-09-11T08:43:00.001-07:00

The blurb gives the impression that the heroine is a person who knows what she wants and goes after it with the precision of a heat-seeking missile.

I got to page 11...

Isabella fell in love with Marcus 10 years ago. But in the meantime she married someone else who has now conveniently died. A 10-year marriage. That's a lot of intercourse with a guy she admits she has few feelings about. That says a lot about Isabella's character imo. Her own parents married for love...so why on earth didn't Isabella? And she still lets mommy guide her behaviour in public. I thought Isabella was kidding herself about her feelings. Basically she's looking to catch another mark. That's ok. but it's not romance or even love.

And the printing was too big as well.

dnf

Loose and Easy by Tara Janzen

2008-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well. At least I finished it. And what an unpleasureable chore it was. Why any romance fan would enjoy this story is a complete mystery to me. There is no romance. In fact by page 271 there had only been one kiss and absolutely zero emotions between the main couple.

The overwhelming problem is that there are just too too many threads within the novel. Mostly about people I cared nothing about.

Apart from the Johnny and Esmee thread. There is

the Dax thread...(goes nowhere)
the Loretta thread...(irrelevant)
the general Grant thread...that was ok..brought a little excitement to the table
the Franklin Bleak thread...
the Esmee's mom thread...
the Erick Werner and shoko thread...
the Kevin and Dovey thread
the Mitch and Leroy, Baby Duce, Katherine Gray, Dom Ramos threads. Crikey! I almost forget to mention the Patsy Cline thread. Does anyone under a 100 years of age actually know who she is? Or care?

Just enumerating them all makes me want to cross my eyes and yawn. Because so many of those threads were left hanging. They were completely irrelevent. And they felt irrelevent as I was reading them. That's the problem. What should have been explained and wasn't. Was. How come Esmee's dad kept finding all those paintings stolen in WW2? Why did Esmee keep coming to rescue her dead-beat dad when he'd been an habitual gambler for years? Plus. If I'd had my skin carved up by someone, I'd have changed careers....long ago. But not Esmee. One minute she's on the academic fast-track. The next she's a gumshoe. Not even high-tech investigations. But foot-work. None of that really made sense. Another thread that did not appear was the 'contemporary political landscape.' This story was too firmly rooted in Denver..with a small diversion into the huge irrelevence that is South America. You know what else. I didn't really appreciate the local gang-bangers being made into Johnny's helpers either. That's just cloud cuckoo land for me.

Just why did Johnny visit the Locos? No idea. What was the point of the long tunnel and Johnny's fears. Other than story padding. Eventually I lost interest and fell asleep. Give me pink leeches and butterflies anyday. Franklin Bleak...the bad guy. Ha ha ha. A limp dope. My mom could put him in his place. Bring back T. Royce...or Dr Souk. Is what I say.

You know. I wanted to ask. Sure. Johnny and Esmee had a crush on each other in school. But after so many years. Why couldn't they just give each other a hug and go share a drink together at some bar? As far as I could tell. There was no justification for them going to bed with each other. Other than they'd spent too much stress time together.

Three quarters of the way into the novel and the reader is still only about an hour from the start. Where's the progression in plot and character development? In a way it was like the final chapter was just stuck on by someone else's orders.

Also. A word about Suzi Toussi. Didn't she dump Hawkins and take up with another SDF member in a previous novel? And didn't Hawkins breathe a sigh of relief when she moved on from him? And suddenly she's being built up as the drop-dead gorgeous heroine for a future novel? No thank you. I had enough problems with seeing Cody as a deserving case after she slept with half of central europe in her search for her father.

Actually. It has taken me 3 weeks of olympic perseverence to get to the end of the novel. I read the first 300 pages at my usual fast pace. Then I got so bored that I could only read about a paragraph a day for a while.

I'm still wondering. Is the new J.T story line a great big tease for the next novel? Or is it an ongoing thread that will appear in all the following novels? Just like the original thread. Whatever. The new J.T thread completely overshadowed the main plot. Jeez!!! J.T is the big deep tragedy of Steel Street. And suddenly he's alive???!!! How could Tara even mention his name and expect regular readers to be interested in Esmee and Johnny's light-weight escapades? When General Grant first showed in chapter 11, well, that's when I lost 90% interest in the main couple. I don't know about other readers. But I could do with either or both Dylan and Hawkins featuring big in another novel. I want the J.T. mystery to be solved. Right now.

Ooooooooo!

A Wicked Liaison by Christine Merrill

2008-09-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

I so loathed that cold-hearted coward Constance. And yes. She is the heroine of the romance. Why the hero, Tony, gave her even the time of day certainly defied any reason I could muster. Constance is so horrible to him. Refusing to see him during daylight because she thinks he is beneath her social station. Yet Tony is the one who rescues her from almost certain prostitution and destitution. Constance married a man old enough to be her father because he had a title. And could not please him sufficiently to stop him taking a mistress. Even now, after her first aged husband’s death, Constance is yet again willing to wed anyone, anyone with a title, so long as they give her security and respectability. She is so horrible. How is this novel a romance? Oh. Because she gets all emotional when she’s with Tony. Actually she treats him with no respect. She acts like his pimp in many ways. Getting him to steal this and that, then hand over his money to her. She’s continually cruel and hurtful towards the hero. Even the nominal villain, Lord Jack Barton, treats her with way too much respect.

Poor Tony. Of course in the end Constance declares her love for him. But that is only because she is expecting Tony’s baby. I doubt even a single day will pass in the next 20 years when she doesn’t remind him how she married beneath her station. Poor Tony.

Wild Card by Lora Leigh

2008-09-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Jeez. Who'da thought that a writer of erotica would come up with a modern romance about everlasting love? Jeez.

Did I say I absolutely love this book?

Did I say I absolutely loved the things I hated in so many of the author's previous novels? The small-town politics. The southern melodrama. The screaming hysterics. Well. I absolutely loved them all in Wild Card.

But most of all I loved that 18-year old beauty Sabella could commit forever to Nathan and mean it. And vice versa. Jeez. Jeez.

I'm not saying the book is perfect. By any means. But I've always had a preference for husband and wife romances. Which unfortunately are not often written nowadays.

Hotness afficienados might say that the hotness takes a while to get going and that it's just slightly repetitive. It would have been nice if Bella had swallowed just once. (Oops. Actually she does.) Or that exactly the same phrases occur in different places in the novel. And really why on earth would the BCM want Sabella's auto repair shop. (Other than all the people in Texas small towns are completely crazy.) But that's it. That's where I stop.

This story is going straight on my recommended list. Which is only fair. Considering the amount of Lora Leigh books that I read. But I'm nervous about my decision. My experience has been that her books don't stand up well to more than one reading. (Elizabeth turned out to be one of the stupidest, criminally negligent parents I've ever come across in a novel.)

The clever thing about Wild Card is that both Bella and Nathan were young when they married. They claim they've both changed (not) and they're still committed. It's funny when Nathan is jealous of himself. But that Sienna got off much too lightly. Seeing how it was made obvious that she had repeatedly punched poor Sabella on most of her body. Sienna should have died in screaming agony after say, being bitten by a deadly rattler in the cave. As she watched Noah hold Sabella in his arms.

Some great little scenes. Of course. The chapter where Sabella lets Nathan drive his own pickup is just totally cute. I also loved every time Sabella tries to smack Nathan pretending to be Noah, and he reminds her patiently and gently that she is not allowed to do that. Imagining Sabella riding behind Nathan on the Harley in her bare legs was also somewhat awe-inspiring. (I'd never have the nerve myself.) The scene where Sabella realises Noah is Nathan is pretty good considering she could have had screaming hysterics...but she saves those for later. I completely loved Nathan's words when he admitted to Sabella he was '...an ignorant fool too fucking scared to have his wife see him weak.' Poor Nathan. His poor body is actually covered in scar tissue but he never dwells on his physical injuries. He thinks they've changed his nature but they haven't. Also. It's absolutely great how Nathan is completely rooted in this small town in Texas. I loved this strange theme of how you can grow up in a place like that and not really be aware of what's going on. Nathan could have turned out looking stupid but he didn't because he had a total sense of honor and did not hesitate to put right what had gone wrong with the community.

Some readers are gonna ask why Sabella was such a wimp in the cave. That's because her main focus was on protecting the baby and keeping knowledge of the baby from that vicious bitch Sienna. Sabella never had any doubt that Nathan would rescue her. I loved the way the author had Sabella tell Nathan straight out that it was Sienna that gave her the facial bruise. Like she didn't know Sienna was dead meat from that point onwards. Personally I also enjoyed the presence of Ian and Kira and seeing their relationship towards each other.

I have to say I totally mourn the absence of the c-word. In my experience the p-word is used almost exclusively by males in their teens.

And yes. I did take the day off work to read it. And I'd do it again. So there!

Novels like Wild Card and Dangerous Secrets completely make up for all the dross I read in 2008. The shame is that even other books by the same writers will be nowhere near as entertaining.

I think I'll try the Nauti series next...

Finally. I also loved the ambiguity of the front cover...even though the author went to a great deal of trouble to show that Nathan's roots were totally Irish...Obviously she hasn't seen Bernie Mac's performance in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. tee hee.

Ok. The gushing ends. Here. And. Now.

Miss Winthorpe's Elopement by Christine Merrill.

2008-08-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Harlequin Historical.

Marry in haste...repent in leisure. Might be the moral of this story. However as we all know, sometimes it pays to take a risk. And rich printer's daughter Penelope Winthorpe certainly takes a risk when she marries basically a drunk who her carriage nearly runs over one night. Happily the drunk turns out to be a peer of the realm who is desperate enough to consider topping himself as a way out of his money troubles. He's handsome, she's bookish. Unfortunately he is also somewhat of an unmitigated snob once he sobers up. In fact. The marriage seems to be going nowhere for quite some time. With Penny being the one who has to make all the adjustments to being the wife of a Lord and having to fit into his social circle.

On one level the hero, Adam, seems as frivolous as his many friends. On the other hand. He is a thoroughly decent guy, probably somewhat too aware of his responsibilities to his tenants and other people who depend on him. Consider. He feels guilty about the loss of life when a ship he has invested in is lost at sea. That's like saying you or I feel guilt about where the interest in our bank accounts comes from. Seeing how the ship had a cargo full of tobacco, if Adam wanted to feel guilty then he could have thought about the living conditions of the slaves that worked the tobacco plantation. But that never happens in series romances.

In actual fact. This is a fantastic read. With a true villianess, the mega-bitch Clarissa. For large parts of the story I was in total suspense wandering what wickedness she would get up to in order to destroy the happiness of the main couple. And boy. She gives it her best shot. The husband, Tim, is also not very nice, but in a completely different sort of way. With friends like Tim, who needs enemies.

What makes the story special is the characters of Penny and Adam. And of course there are a couple of great scenes featuring the servant, Jem. Both the hero and heroine are multi-dimensional people. Adam is full of regrets about his former life-style. Penny is surprisingly emotionally mature considering she is a romance heroine. Towards the end she does revert to type. The ending is a bit pat too. What what else can a reader expect from a series romance? A couple of scenes of strategically placed hotness only.

Also. The novel is primarily about the relationship between Penny and Adam. But really. I'd like to have known more of how Adam came to be as broke as he obviously was. I mean. One hundred and fifty thousand pounds in Regency times. That's like about 10 million in modern times. Who's to say he wouldn't lose that much again?! Now that's a thought for Penny to ponder.

But basically. It's a little gem. For what it is.

Recent purchases.

2008-08-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

I bought 4 series romances at the supermarket today. 2 from the "Intrigue" imprint and 2 from the "Historical" imprint.

I totally ignored the author's name and went only by the imprint title and the blurb on the back of the books. Actually. It's amazing how many imprints there are nowadays. I could see "Super Historical", "Instant Family", "Baby on the Way"; all in addition to the usual "Medical", "Blaze", etc.

Unfortunately. At the check-out I was somewhat surprised by the cost of each. Nearly as much as a proper romance novel.

Three historicals

2008-08-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

The trouble is. I don't like heroes who use hos. First. It's generally disrespectful to women. If the hero was a decent sort of guy, he'd give the ho some money without using her body. Most ho's in those days were full of disease...which they passed on to the guys who used them. Very unpleasant for the usually nice respectable heroine. Also. It doesn't say much about the social skills of the hero if the only way he can get a woman is by paying for her services. How can such a person be heroic?

So...

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase.

The heroine starts out fairly sparkling and independent minded. Then she marries Dain and turns into some kind of doormat. So what he's had a rough childhood. He's verbally abusive, drags her around physically, bangs her practically in public...and she says nothing. And that was all before the sub-plot about the illegitimate child of Dain. dnf.

Scandalous by Night by Barbara Pierce.

Another man-ho. Plus. This novel featured endless characters with such strange names. Often it was difficult to tell who was a guy and who was a female. Couples from previous novels are introduced far too quickly in the plot. The hero came across like a mean-spirited bully to the young heroine. Also. A stepmother has carnal relations with both her stepsons. But thats just padding for the novel. The father knows but does nothing. Why on earth does the heroine live in a house where she knows that sort of thing is going on and is slapped by the stepmother as well. So what her own parents are dull. They are not abusive. She should have moved back to her own home. The hero, generally, is knee-deep in sordid degeneracy and is just seeking to carry on the cycle of abuse by courting the heroine, who, I think, was his full cousin. I got to page 91 and realised the story was making my skin crawl. Revolting...dnf.

Again. This books shows exactly why I started my blog. None of the reviews I read even mentioned all that intra-family biblical relations stuff.

Before the Scandal by Suzanne Enoch.

At the very start of the novel, the hero, estranged from his family, returns to his ancestral home because of a letter full of lies written by his younger sister. Again he says nothing to her. Which shows him to be a fool. I couldn't maintain interest after that. Boring. dnf.

Neither Harry in Rendevous nor Ravenstone in Dangerous used prostitutes. Simon in Enchanted did and he was made to suffer for it. And that's how it should be.

Into The Fire by Anne Stuart.

2008-08-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

No, no, no Jamie. You do not want to live for ever more with a guy who has ratty grey towels, lumpy sofas, thin mattresses on the floor instead of proper beds and a fridge without fresh food in it. Even to spite Nate and the Duchess.

Every time I think about this novel I start to feel heart-sore. Because the main couple have no chance together despite going through an unbelievable amount of mental and physical pain. Even the so-callled happy ending didn't convince me.

The heroine is such a complete wet wimp. She takes being TSTL to fresh depths. She seems to have had no idea that her foster brother was a total murderous psycho. That her adoptive parents were indifferent to her. I really don't get why she cared for these people. But she did. The person she shows absolutely no respect for and to is the guy she loves, Dillon. Throughout the whole novel I don't think Jamie says one nice word to him. I felt so sorry for Dillon. He's trying to make a decent life for himself and various members of this poisonous family stalk him, take away his only friend and try to kill him. No wonder he makes such great efforts to smother any gentler emotions when they are around.

Most of this novel is set in a creepy dark warehouse being used as a auto repair shop. It is so bleak. As the reader I was allowed to know almost from the beginning who the villain was. Never let it be said that Nate is unrealistic in his viciousness. He is a truely nasty piece of work who victimises both Jamie and Dillon for years on end. That's why I felt miserable at the end of the story. There's only a glimpse of happiness between Jamie and Dillon. Not enough. Considering she had her chest carved with a knife; considering he was the love object of a pervert. I can't see how they can survive as a couple. She is used to ...cleanliness, tidyness and comfort. He doesn't care.

Very sad.

Wild Card Countdown.

2008-08-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Lift-off is Aug 26th. Harriet, at last, has put up a review on her Blogger website. I've linked my image of the cover to it.

Basically. I think even Harriet is saying that the plot is totally implausible. Which is a first for her. Complete rubbish is probably a more accurate description. But thats hardly a surprise to us Lora Leigh fans. I am simply aching to get hold of my copy. Definitely taking the day off work to read it.

Two years is just about acceptable to mourn what is supposed to be the love of your life. I just hope Ms Leigh remembered that this series is supposed to be HOT!

The Courage To Love by Samantha Kane

2008-08-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Very very hot e-book. Basically two guy friends use a woman as a conduit to have carnal relations with one another. Yes. It’s that simple and that insulting to gays and women alike.

Historical erotica featuring gay and hetero. The first of the series. Well-written. The female, Kate, despite her protestations, is a trollop. First she was a trollop for money, then she was a trollop for free. She’s another one of those romance heroine types that actually has only a life of poverty when not living off the succession of men in her life. Highly retro. I suppose I should remind female readers that there are plenty of women who are poor who retain their dignity and do not prostitute themselves. Plus. For some women. No man = Freedom. That type of woman rarely makes an appearance in erotic romances. And let me ask you this. If someone forces you to stick your arm in a fire...it hurts a lot. So would you voluntarily stick your arm in another fire about 6 months later? Yet that is the principle behind the plot of this story and many other e-book erotics. It’s quite strange when either of the male heroes refer to themselves as ‘we.’ One of the quirks that makes reading the novel enjoyable.

This book contains a very small sub-plot that again should have placed this EC novel in the x-treme category. I live in a home where all the occupants are legal adults. So there are no access issues for me to take into consideration. Other readers in different circumstances need to think long and hard before downloading this novel.

On some levels the story is just as sordid as Moonrise. But it’s much less bleak and actually contains a lot of happiness in amongst the usual obligatory misery and public humiliations. Actually. I quite enjoyed reading it. As a completely irrelevant aside, I loved all the names of the males in the novel. Richardson should have died. The swine.

Moonrise by Anne Stuart

2008-08-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

This edgy rom-sus novel has some amazingly hot scenes considering it was published in 1996. A case of quality over quantity. Despite the fact that the heroine Annie frequently got on my nerves. Ok. I can understand that her father turned her into some kind of stepford clone. (Teenage rebellion seems to have passed her by.) But she knows she loves James. And she allows him to hand her over to some other guy who she ends up doing it with. Twice. It's like she doesn't have any will of her own or independence of mind or spirit. Because of that I thought she deserved all the humiliation and degradation she received. I thought a very good job was done of making the ex-husband truely repulsive and the bad-boy hero attractive. Considering they were both in the same trade. And despite the fact that her husband-to-be killed her father. Who was of course a complete and utter monster.

In the end both Annie and James earned the happiness they found together. I hope they had long peaceful lives. Filled with love for one another.

Actually. This book well deserves it's reputation. I found it an interesting read. Although very sordid and bleak.

Shadow Lover by Anne Stuart

2008-07-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Published in 1999. Quite a good sus-rom story if you can work your way through the lame first half.

A novel where the main couple spend entirely too much time sniping at each other. Where the main couple spend entirely too much time not in each others company. Where the heroine feels shocked and guilty because she had the time of her life in the hero’s bed. But she is generally spineless and avoids all risk. And is deeply obsessed about inherited money. Despite her loud protestations to the contrary. Nor did Carolyn have any real good reason not to tell the cops about the violent act she witnessed on the beach. Imagine. She didn't tell her adopted mother that her son was seriously injured or probably dead. In fact. All her actions for much of the novel seem to have been motivated by a selfish desire to maintain her tenuous status with the rich MacDowell family. The hero, Alex, is actually, much too good for her. Far too many stupid relatives all over the novel. Like I was interested in any of them.

Lots of clever stuff though. First the reader is told that the hero is an imposter called Sam. Then it turns out that Sam and Alex are actually the same person. Then it turns out that even real Alex is not really the son of the dying matriarch. I’ve always loathed characters like Aunt Sally. Nasty poisonous spider-like people. And she is no exception. Sally should have suffered a lot more. Her last days on the earth should have been filled with misery. Why Carolyn devoted herself to Sally defies logical reasoning or even emotional intelligence. A thirteen year old girl gets kissed in this story. That’s a no-go area nowadays. Her punishment. Not to love until the hero, Alex, returns some 18 years later. His punishment. A bullet between the shoulders. Which I thought. Was a bit harsh.

Unusually. Both the hero and heroine are blond. Makes a nice change. The main fault though. Not enough nookie. Or emotions between the main couple. They continually run away from one another. Somewhat frustrating. Once stupid Sally dies the story comes to glorious life. Apart from Carolyn, the heroine, who keeps displaying completely irrational behaviour. Like so many heroines of the 70s, she puts the hero through a lot of crap for no good reason at all.

It’s good that I read this novel straight after Dangerous Secrets. I’m back to loving Charity. For taking risks with her life. For not letting caring for her aged relatives get in the way of her chance of happiness. For being happy when stranger Nick made her feel good in bed.

I’ve read better stories about orphans too. Alex isn’t really a bad-boy hero. Again. Having an older heroine is fine if she's lived a proper life. Which Carolyn hasn't. She'll spend the rest of her 30s regretting she didn't get together with Alex earlier. (Even though that would have been impossible.)

One weird thing. This novel is set amongst the over-privileged super-rich of Vermont but amazingly when the family come to stay the heroine has to make up a bed in the library because there are not enough rooms in the mansion! That's some device that is.

This novel is perfectly ok. Actually. It's better than Spymasters Lady. Not as good as All Through The Night. Which was written around the same time. Lowell's Sweet Wind, Wild Wind which is about the same kind of relationship is miles better. Makes me salivate thinking about the craziness that is bound to be Lora Leigh’s Wild Card. (Hurry up August end!)

And finally. I can't believe how fast I got this novel. I ordered it on the 22 July through the abe network from some tiny place in Mass. Mailman pushed it through the letterbox on 25 July. Amazon orders usually take 2 weeks exactly. How is that possible?

Dangerous Secrets by Lisa Marie Rice

2008-07-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

There is no way any words from me can do justice to this stonkingly enjoyable novel. I like this author’s voice so much. I don’t care that many less fawning readers might say that the hero and heroine from each book are completely interchangeable. It’s the nuances of difference that matter to me. Like. I loved the driving-ability thread in this story. And happily. The suspense in each novel is so completely unique.

If I was a son or daughter of that proud nation of Russia I’d be just a tad annoyed that a man with the sheer determination, guts, willpower, talent and class of Vassily Worontzoff is aired out by an alpha male dimbo and his dumb blonde bunny girlfriend. Sheesh. I’m not Russian though. And I liked the message the author gave out. That there is no excuse for soft or hard terrorism where innocent people die. Not even if you have suffered gut-wrenching heartache and awful physical deprivation as did Vassily. I personally. Would have liked to witness Vassily do something baaad. He is built up as this evil evil guy. But doesn’t really display any behaviour that justifies this rep. He is very menacing though. And is killed far too quickly.

This time the hero and heroine are Nick and Charity. And yes. She’s as dumb as her name suggests. However. Being dumb is not a crime. So I’m not ashamed to say I liked Charity. Even though she gets married to a guy she’s known for a week only. And then totally forgives him for lying his head off to her. There is a great chapter in the story that illustrates exactly why Charity falls for Nick. It totally worked for me too.

What didn’t work in the novel was why Nick let Charity go to Vassily’s house for the meet. It’s not exactly unknown for terrorists to have the same scanning technology as black ops guys. So really. Nick should have expected the mike to be detected. A big weakness is that Nick does not save Charity. Vassily does. Nick just blusters. That’s the tragedy of Vassily. Hope he and Katya are reunited in the afterlife. Also I completely felt Arkady’s love for his Vor.

Hey! What was the point of Jake? I suppose he was needed to convert Nick into a rich guy. Except that billionaire Jake making a million for Nick, the guy who saved his ass countless times in the orphanage came across as slightly mean. Jake should have made at least $50 million for Nick.

There’s a lot of reader teasing in the romance scenes. Sometimes the reader is shut out of the bedroom. Other times the reader is allowed to see the hot visualisations in Nick’s head. Hmm. There are no hot scenes after the marriage. The plot took over. But overall the story certainly did qualify as erotica. It is streets ahead of 99% of the e-book romantica trash I have recently read.

You know what. I knew I would like this story even while I read the prologue. I actually considered calling in sick to work for the day. And sitting in a Starbucks all day to read the book. I was so tempted. In the end though, like Nick and Charity, I did my duty and fulfilled my obligations to my employer.

That stupid word. Gelid. Makes a couple of appearances in the book. Sign the online petition to ban it from all further Rice novels.

A very very special mention needs to be made about Chapter 22. It contains some of the corniest scenes, images and dialogue that I have ever read in all my life. My eyes practically bugged out as it's outrageousness unfolded before me.

Lets start at the beginning of Chapter 22. Oooo! Watch Nick and John wave their shiney DHS badges under Charity's nose. As if badges were a proof of anything. Then there's the bit where Charity asserts she's made of steel and agrees to spy on Vassily because she's a true patriot. To say nothing of the paragraph where Nick throws the test-tube, bolt and CD in front of Charity and proceeds to explain how they are proof of Vassily's evil mafia network. That dumb bunny Charity laps up every word Nick spills from his lying mouth. But oh, she believes that when he went to bed with her his body told her the truth. Jeez. That poor girl. I expect Consuela believed in Nick's body too. Hur hur. And it goes on. At the end of the chapter Nick weeps all over Charity. Oh brother. Like I said. The whole of Chapter 22 belongs in the twilight zone. It was like Charity was being inducted into some fringe cult group.

But none of the above stopped me totally loving the experience of working my way through this fabulous (small-town) novel.

The Spymasters Lady by Joanna Bourne

2008-07-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sweet and tender historical romance. While this novel regularly shows it is plotted oh so cleverly it is still not in the same class as Rendevouz by Amanda Quick. Which also deals with spying but is much more emotionally satisfying to read.

Basically. Annique the French spy lurches from one dangerous situation to another. She’s a strange character really. She believes she has developed a technique of chattering aimlessly to bamboozle whoever is interrogating her and most of the time it works. But not with the guy she loves. He sees right through her fabrications. And a couple of times Annique reveals an excellent assessment of the character of the hero and his friend. There are some genuine surprises in the novel but they are not nasty so I will not reveal them. There are also far too many unbelievable coincidences which border on ridiculous. I’m glad that neither Annique or Grey suffered any real harm (physical or emotional) but that fact contributed to the fairy-tale feel of the story. She is like a Napoleonic Superwoman. See in the dark, do surgery, escape from dungeons. But amazingly unsuspicious about the death of her mother. And even when her nominal enemies deconstruct her entire belief system she remains astoundingly passive. The nice thing about Annique is that she is young and very positive about life despite all the bad war things she has witnessed. (And she only injures and refuses to kill…even her enemies.)

The cover is completely misleading. This novel is 100% about Annique. There are no scenes that feature the hero without the presence of Annique. And I couldn’t really discern the skills that enabled Grey to attain the position of British Head of Section. Often Grey seemed in danger of being overshadowed by the character of William Doyle and his wife. Even Adrian sometimes. And surely in those times there was not the separation between military intelligence and civilian spying of modern times? So I didn't really understand how Grey could defy Reams and get away with it.

I really enjoyed how Annique fell in love with both Robert and Grey. Even though not recognizing them as the same man was one of those ridiculous contrivances that I wrote about earlier.

However. This book is a lovely read. There is some quite affecting nookie but not until way past halfway into the story. Readers need to be aware that much of the 'romance' is built up during locked-room scenes.

The true effect of this story was to remind me of just how much I loved Rendevouz. I think both novels may even take place in around the same historical time frame.

Into The Darkness by Delilah Devlin

2008-07-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

This is not a romance but a sordid and distasteful trailer-park urban fantasy. Vampire genre. Why do I describe it as ‘trailer park?’ The author bio. How were my prejudices confirmed? This astounding paragraph towards the end of the novel where the main secondary character remembers her murdered baby girl; “Her Daddy had just taught her to say ‘shit.’ He thought it was funny. I got mad.” Yup. I can just imagine the scene. Characters have been to college but they still work in video stores and hump at the office in plain sight of anyone. Lovely. Scenes take place in tacky motel rooms.

The main couple have some sort of relationship going but that doesn’t stop them doing it with a lot of other people. The hero and heroine spend most of the novel in a locked room and there is just too much non-consensual activity between them…perpetrated by her on him. Because of this fact the author tries to interest the reader in bump and grind between secondary characters. Unfortunately the main secondary character does it with just about anything that walks on two legs. Nor was I interested in the millionaire life-style of the people who had kidnapped and imprisoned the hero and heroine. My sympathies often lay with the hero who is basically humiliated and disrespected through much of the story. To say nothing of the fact that there is a general theme of a community using and abusing complete strangers. (As food)

The heroine’s name is Natalie. She starts off in the novel as a fairly naïve and innocent character. By the end of the story she is exposing herself to convenience-store clerks. Occasionally she makes the struggle to display some integrity which basically consists of laying in bed with the covers up to her chin. As opposed to most of the time where she is raping the hero. For large parts of the story her actions are determined by her hormones (rather than her brain or her heart) and her potential fertility is openly discussed by her captors as a reason for denying her freedom.

I suppose you have to be unapologetically culturally southern to appreciate this kind of novel. And believe me when I say I am not referring to Cajun culture.

Because this novel is obviously the beginning of a series, threads pop up and then disappear for large parts of the story. Just who is the person who killed Natalie’s parents. And why? Appalling is a good word to use to describe this book. It is also very very dirty and doesn’t rise above sewer level at any point.

In the final chapter, Rene goes through the portal with Natalie because he believes he'd 'rather die than live without her.' Why? This is the woman who abused his body. Who will continue to do so because she's a 'Born' and he's a 'Revenant.' I guess that's the vampire word for doormat. And Rene's the first guy in a romance I've read who qualifies to hold that title. Poor sap. In true trailer-park style, instead of breaking free from his abuser, he chooses to stay with her. Too scared to take back his self-respect. Sad.

Mostly I read romances where falling in love makes the main couple happy. None of the rampant carnality in this novel results in any happiness whatsoever.

Read this book only if you generally despise humanity as it will just confirm your low opinion of the species.

Twice The Temptation by Suzanne Enoch

2008-07-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

...two short novels in the one book. Linked by a cursed diamond.

Personally. I thought both novellas were too long.

I can understand a hero who wants to rescue a heroine from danger. But a hero who wants to rescue a girl from her mother????!!! What is that all about? Particularly when the reader knows that in 10 years time the girl will turn out to be a carbon copy of said mother. Yuk. Why not marry the mother in the first place? After all. She’s going to be around in his life for the next 20 years or so anyway. That’s the pitfall with historicals. The author writes one kind of story which the reader interprets as another.

The heroine, Gilly, reads as a precious pain. I’ve met 14-year olds who make more decisions about their lives and take more risks than this18-year old heroine. Gilly isn’t blonde but the best way to describe her is standard issue bimbo. Or just plain horrible. Despite her pretty looks. Even when she’s been deflowered by the hero, she still is happy to see her life as being married to her 51-yo suitor, denying him anything but an annual consummation, whilst maybe taking lovers. That is gross dishonesty. The poor guy has done nothing to deserve being treated with such disrespect.

I struggled to continue reading. Around page 138 of a 178-page novella the heroine eventually became less calculating and honest. Much too late for me to enjoy the story. Unfortunately it also became obvious that her future husband would have no trouble using s.e.x to get whatever he wanted from the dim gullible chit.

The plot device of a cursed diamond became quite interesting towards the end of the story. It almost developed into a joke at one point. For me this story is about the power of beauty. Why else would Addison have gone to all that effort to get the gal? Plus. This is one of those novels where the heroine is all feisty and difficult before the hero does her. But once the deed is done she mellows and becomes an all round good egg.

Reminded me too much of the dry historicals I was forced to read in school. Five chapters of torture until all issues are resolved in about 5 pages. Not much bump and grind either. Although what there was was freely given. End of.

The other novella in this book is another in the Sam n Rick story arc. The big disappointment is that the baddie is telegraphed out at the very start of the story. And I was truly amazed that Sam, with her supposed keen antenna for cops, scams and fellow thiefs didn’t rumble him as quickly as I did.

Sam is just as high strung and neurotic as ever. Sometimes she seems to have a good sense of fairness in her relationship with Rick. Like when she almost goes into the lake with Rick to search for the diamond she threw in the water. Other times she seems to make unnecessary problems for herself. Like when she plants the cursed diamond on Rick, knowing (and hoping) it will bring him trouble. I don’t get Sam’s chosen new career either. The security industry is basically one big scam. I can’t think of anything worse than having cameras and patrols all over all your big millionaire mansions. Some nicely steamy scenes though. With a lot less anatomical descriptions than some of the romances I’ve read recently. And a lot more post-coital talk. Which I enjoyed reading.

The cursed diamond wreaks havoc on a huge scale in this story. Rawley House literally overflows with security people, house-guests, armed ex-lover robbers and armed police. All in the middle of Devon. It’s a wonder Rick doesn’t die of shame. The palaver a guy has to put up with in order to get the woman he’s chosen to bear his children. Obviously he thinks she’s worth it. Good luck to the pair of them. The jewellery robbery scenes were unrealistic and irrelevent. I skim-read them until Rick joined in the action.

I think readers who aren’t familiar with Sam n Rick might find her a bit of a mean shrill bitch. And sometimes Rick reads like a trusted loyal lap-dog. I look forward to the novel where she has to grovel to him for a couple of chapters. By no means could Sam be described as a door-mat or one of those women desperate for a guy. But she still values her relationship with Rick. And that’s why I like her and hope there are more stories after ‘A Touch of Minx.’

Dangerous Lover by Lisa Marie Rice

2008-07-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ace. Ace. Ace. This is a fantastic lovely piece of rude romantic suspense. What's more. The ending is just right. Not too abrupt at all. The heroine gets to show her love and trust. The hero is prepared to sacrifice his life for her safety. Super. Then let's talk about the image of the final action scene. The hero holding his woman in one arm and his weapon in the other. Isn't that just totally iconic? Don't tell me that happened by accident. I absolutely completely appreciate the thought that has gone into producing these stories.

It's official. I am now totally hooked on this author. Even though I've long sinced sussed out her formula. Yet the novels themselves are absolutely wonderful story-telling. One of the many things I love is the way she references contemporary world politics. With none of the dopey sentimentality perpetrated by the big media. This is a much better story of blood diamonds than the movie. Set resolutely in America of course. Thank goodness.

I have to say I prefered the character of silent Sam Cooper (from Woman On The Run) as a hero to Jack Prescott. Even though Jack is the more effective warrior in that he at least prevents his woman from getting hurt. Something Sam so notably failed to do. Although Caroline is on the whole very easy-going I just loved the way she refused to leave the freezing basement while Jack was there mending the boiler. Despite the fact he kept ordering her to go somewhere warm. They were a great couple. I also loved the way Caroline's grief for her brother is written...so poignant. And the way that Jack acknowledges that his love for Caroline changes the way he views the world around him. Wow! How many threads can you get into one novel.

However. I'm sick of the word 'gelid' to describe the wind. Does anyone actually know what it means? I do know where she picked it up though. My advice. Don't use it again. There's a reason why it fell out of use....it's a stupid sounding word.

I read this novel from start to finish in about 36 hours. With breaks for my job and house-keeping too. I'm saying I was hooked from the very beginning. The author just does not disappoint. Bless her. Goes without saying I'll definitely be buying Dangerous Secrets. And I'm more than half-way interested in reading more Avon Reds since I much prefer following a publisher's series than any particular author. But we'll see how that pans out.

Sometimes I wonder why none of these novels make it onto my recommended list. Basically. It's because the main couples tend to be so completely different from one another. I can't see how the love will last after the immediate peril is over. For instance. Dangerous Lover takes place over the course of just 3 days! Much too short to develop a relationship. But that's just me and my opinion. I still love the stories told.

Also. The heroines are too passive in the relationship. The heroes always go down on the women but their actions are never reciprocated. Very strange. In particular there were a lot of inconsistencies in D-Lover. Take Caroline's relationship with Sanders. Towards the beginning of the novel she describes herself as one of the few women in the town who he hasn't slept with. Then later on it becomes apparent that Sanders sees Caroline as some sort of casual fuck-buddy and she admits he was her first lover. Sanders is in fact too large a presence in Caroline's thoughts and the reason her parents came to despise him is never fully explained.

But the really glaring weakness in this book is this. How does Jack being Ben explain to Caroline how he knows what the inside of her house looks like? Since it is made clear at the start of the novel that Ben went into Greenbriars when the family were out. And they never gave their permission for him to be there. Another reason for avoiding homeless shelter people. 90% weirdos. I expect the news that Jack had bequeathed his millions to her encouraged Caroline to run towards him in the final shootout. So typical of middle-class romance heroines.

There's a chapter in Dangerous Lover when the baddie's name changes from Deaver to Deacon. I know that's just poor proof-reading but still...these novels are not cheap you know.

Reflection

2008-06-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

A hiatus has occurred in reviewing. It's not my fault at all.

I ordered some books from amazon. Supposed to be 'in stock.' Despatch date turned out to be a whole 2 weeks into the future. Imagine that! I wonder how they define 'out of stock.'

I also ordered an older romance through the abe network. That didn't arrive at all. Even though they took my money.

Actually. I did read another Shiloh Walker e-book. Eli and Sarel. Number 2 in the Hunters series. However I'm not going to review it right away. Because then I'll have reviewed 3 pieces of smut in a row. And some people might think that I'm obsessed with nookie. Which I am most definitely not! (How dare they!)

Still. I've taken the opportunity to re-read all my 'Ice' novels and my 'Crazy' books. I still love them all. I also went to the movies. (Those are the breaks.)

I'll Be Hunting You by Shiloh Walker

2008-06-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

This is a follow-up to Declan and Tori. I only read it because I knew that Declan died. I thought. "Serves you right...sharing your girl with that wimp Eli." However I also concluded from the review I read that Declan doesn't actually stay dead. I didn't mind that. One of the things I hate about death is that it's so permanent. So why not fantasize about it being temporary?

I have to say though. This e-novella is total badly written schlock. Tori is really made to suffer grief. Poor woman. She and Declan had been together for 15 years. But it's only for one whole year. Very few romances nowadays deal with grief. And I felt all her anguish. Even though it wasn't particularly realistic.

However I would have been annoyed if she then fell in love with another guy after just one year. Like happens with so much women's fiction nowadays. Blah. But instead she falls for a guy called Brian. Who actually turns out to be an amnesiac Declan. With a small completely unrealistic child in tow. I didn't really get Brian's memories of his life. And as the story progressed I didn't really like that it was obvious that he was destined to meet and bang Tori. Brian is another wimp's name. So how could Brian turn out to be Declan but have none of Declan's memories? We are not talking reincarnation here. Just memory loss. I thought it was all a bit stupid. To say nothing of the fact that the story criss-crosses America but all the towns seem equally anonymous places.

I also don't like the vigilantism thread of the Hunter series. It just doesn't happen. Miscarriages of justice are too commonplace to be treated superficially in some stupid romance. (I don't mean banged up for a crime not committed. I'm talking about being jailed for say 4 years for a really horrible assault or even murder. Sadly all too common.)

I thought all the romance scenes were a bit tepid too. A less well-read reader might think they were hot though. It's a bit boring really is what I'm trying to avoid saying. But those are the facts. The novella did make me interested in reading more about 'the mean bitch' Sarel. Oops. I've swallowed the bait. Maybe that's the whole point of this story.

The Hunters 1: Declan and Tori by Shiloh Walker

2008-06-03T04:04:00.000-07:00

I am over 21. So should you be to read this novel. I bought it as an e-book. But it is also available in print form. At only 165 pages it's a quick 'series romance' type read.

Better plotted than a Lora Leigh story. More effective world-building than the hyper-inflated J R Ward. And it's still a stonking hot read. As in 'very very hot'. There's a lot of voyeurism, girl-friend sharing and girl-anal. tbh While I could go along with the threesome I found myself left behind when Tori humps Eli in front of Declan...out of sympathy or to keep a promise. Tori is Declan's girl. She liked him before she turned into a vampire. I found Eli to be too much of a wet wimp to deserve Tori on his own. But that's just opinion. Also. I think the author, like so many writers of paranormals, needed to be a little more aware of both ethnic sensitivities and master-servant issues.

Basically, Declan and Tori is a vampire, shapeshifter story. Although it's a contemporary novel I did miss the named cars and clothes aspect of, say, the Sam n Rick books. This is the beginning of a series so I'll wait til I read a few more before I pass judgement.